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THE ANCESTRY OF 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 




/-^ ■■ ijye^rty/i^A.u^, 'r»^M4^-fz/^ l^/^f^MA^^/^ 



THE ANCESTRY OF 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



J. HENRY LEA AND 
J. R. HUTCHINSON 




/ 



HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
BOSTON AND NEW YORK 1 909 






LiBPARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

FEB 19 1909 

CopiTii^iil tntry 
cuss OL. XXc, No. 

COPY a. 



COPYRIGHT, 1909 

BY J. HENRY LEA AND J. R. HUTCHINSON 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY I 9O9 



ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL 



TO ALL 

LINCOLN LOVERS 

THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH AND 

BREADTH OF THE LAND 

WHICH HE SAVED 

THIS 

VINDICATION 

OF THE 

MEMORY OF HIS ANCESTORS 

IS DEDICATED BY 

THE AUTHORS 



€ 



PREFACE 

BY THE AMERICAN AUTHOR 

JUST half a century ago to-day [Friday, 15 October, 1858)^ 
the writer, a very much excited small boy effervescing with 
patriotic enthusiasm, accompanied his father and kinsman, 
Senator Trumbull, to the Franklin House in Alton, Illinois, where his 
elders were calling to tender their congratulations to their old friend, 
Abraham Lincoln, after the triumphant close of the last of the seven 
memorable debates with Senator Douglas. 

The memory of that evening is as yesterday. Great events were 
foreshadowed, many future makers of history were present at the 
debate and subsequent reception, yet the great man could find time for 
a few kindly words, as well as a cordial grasp of the hand, to the ad- 
miring schoolboy for whom he became from that hour as a demigod. 

Thirty years later, being in Fngland engaged in his favourite pur- 
suit of genealogy, the idea dawned upon hitn that, of all our represent- 
ative Americans, Lincoln was almost the only one for the elucidation 
of whose pedigree in the Mother Country no steps had apparently ever 
been taken. At this time the American Lineage had been recently 
cleared of the mists of fable and misrepresentation, and the path lay 
open to follow the line of the Emigrant Ancestor back to the earliest 
forebears. 

Thenceforward this became an obsession, and every opportunity 
was taken, on all his frequent visits to England, to secure all Lincoln 
references seen and to pursue the quest in all possible localities; but 
another twenty years went by before the realization of the dream. 

For loyal and enthusiastic co-operation in the last years of this 
quest the writer must express his most cordial recognition to his Eng- 
lish colleague for its unremitting prosecution and final success. 



viii PREFACE 

In the obscure and difficult task of the verification of the American 
Fedigree, the writer has to thank especially, among the many kind 
friends who have aided him, Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock of 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, who generously placed at his disposal her 
large MS. collections on the Hanks and Lincoln families. Major 
George Chrisman of Chrisman Post Office, Rockingham County, 
whose aid alone made possible any progress in Virginia and to whom 
we owe the discovery of the Herring connection [heretofore unsus- 
pected), Gilbert Cope of West Chester, Pennsylvania, whose collec- 
tions have been freely drawn upon for all the portion of the work 
touching Pennsylvania and the fakers. Miss Mary fosephine Roe 
of Gilbert, Ohio [a Lincoln descendant), and lastly, his daughter, 
Frances Trumbull Lea, who made a personal journey to the Lincoln 
Country in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, during the burning 
heats of the past summer, in the endeavour to elicit facts which cor- 
respondence failed to reveal. 

Such as it is, the writer submits the completed genealogy to the 
American people whom Lincoln loved so well, as a slight tribute to 
the memory of their best and wisest Statesman, Father and Friend. 
For him no defence, no vindication, was needed, but it is a matter of 
pride that it has been possible to place his forefathers once more in the 
ranks of their equals, a position from which they should never have 
been deposed. 

J. Henry Lea. 

Elmlea, Thursday, 15 October, 1908. 



I. Feet of Fines 
II. Chancery Proceedings 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTORY Page xiii 

PART I. THE ENGLISH ANCESTRY 

I. The Emigrant, his Home and Parentage 3 

II. A Family Quarrel and its Consequences 13 

III. Five Generations of a Norfolk House 25 

IV. The Social Status of the Lincolns 33 
V. Carbrooke and the Remchings 39 

VI. The Ketts of Wymondham 4^ 

VII. The Norfolk Furies (with Genealogical 

Table) rj 

PART II. THE AMERICAN ANCESTRY 

VIII. The American Pedigree (with Genealo- 
gical Table) 6^ 
IX. Cognate Families 87 
X. Thomas Lincoln — the Man 123 
XI. Inherited Traits lor 

APPENDIX 



H3 
145 



X CONTENTS 

III. Wills (English) 15° 

IV. Registers OF HiNGHAM, Norfolk 157 
V. Registers of Swanton Morley, Norfolk 160 

VI. Carbrooke Parish Register 163 

VII. Account of Baptismal Font from Hingham 

Church 105 

VIII. Wills (American) 168 

IX. Pennsylvania Records 17^ 

X. Miscellaneous Records 174 

XI. Deeds 182 

XII. Survey Bills 200 

XIII. The Herring Family 202 

XIV. Epitaphs in Linvill Creek Cemetery, Virginia 204 

INDEX 205 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Font from St. Andrew's Church, Hingham, 
Norfolk, Fourteenth Century, now at 
CoHAssET, Mass. Frontispiece 

By permission of Rev. H. K. Bartow^ Rector 

Old Map of Norfolk, Sixteenth Century Page 3 

From a cotemporary engraving 

View of City of Norwich, Seventeenth Cen- 
tury 4i/ 

From a cotemporary engraving 

First Glimpse of Hingham 8 
Lincoln Mural Tablet, Church of St. Mary 

CosLANY, Norwich 10 '^ 
Facsimile of Chancery Proceeding 14 
St. Andrew's Church, Hingham, Norfolk 18 
First Sheet of Richard Lincoln's Will 22 
All Saints Church, Swanton Morley, Nor- 
folk 26 
Hingham Parish Register laid open at the 

Year 1622-23 30 ^ 

By permission of Rev. A. W. Vpcher^ Rector 

View of Norwich Castle, Sixteenth Century 52 

From a cotemporary engraving 



xii ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Old Ship Meeting-House, Hingham, Mass. 64 

Enoch Lincoln, Governor of Maine 74 

Levi Lincoln, Governor of Massachusetts 84 

From a portrait in possession of Lincoln N. Kinnicutt 

Hughes Station, Kentucky, Home of Abra- 
ham Lincoln, Grandfather of the 
President, 1782 124 

From a cotemporary drawing in possession of Col. R. T. 
Durrett 

Monument to Nancy Hanks, Spencer County, 

Indiana, dedicated October, 1902 130 

From a photograph in possession of Mrs. C. H. Hitchcock 

Fountain Square, Hingham, Mass., Lincoln 

Homestead on the Right 138 

From a rare photograph in possession of Miss Elizabeth 
L. Crosby 

Signatures of Seven Generations of Ameri- 
can Lincolns, 1 649-1 865 140 

Note : The tail-piece for Part I is the seal used by Richard Lincoln in 
attesting his will. The back of the half-title of the Appendix is the arms of 
Bird of Witchingham. 



INTRODUCTORY 



IT has been the general belief, a belief which was shared even 
by the illustrious President himself, that Abraham Lin- 
coln's remote ancestry, as well as his immediate parent- 
age, was of the humblest ; that the Lincoln Family were so low 
born as to make it a futile task to endeavour to penetrate the 
obscurity from which they sprung, and that the commanding 
figure of Abraham Lincoln was a mere fortuitous circumstance, 
a "sport" of nature, rather than the result of centuries of in- 
bred and inherited qualities derived from worthy forefathers. 
In view of the indisputable facts of the poverty of his par- 
ents and his own consequent early struggle against every dis- 
advantage, this was a not unnatural conclusion to be reached by 
many of the ephemeral and superficial writers who first dealt 
with his biography. Their hasty summaries were buttressed 
and built upon by the perfervid imaginations of penny-a-liners, 
whose sole object seems to have been to magnify the great- 
ness of the man by decrying his origin, until their fables were 
impressed as facts upon the minds of the majority of even the 
more intelligent people of the country. 

With the natural tendency of popular biographers, writing 
to please the proletariat, all stress has been laid on the poverty 
and ignorance of Lincoln's parents, and out of this has grown 
the vulgar and scandalous conception that Thomas Lincoln 
could not have been the father of so great a son ; and this 
was carried so far, bitter political enemies having joined forces 
with his illogical partisans,' as to have denied even to the 

' " I condemn the man [Herndon] for what he has said about her " (Letter 
of J. F. Speed to Mrs. C. H. Hitchcock, 8 February, 1895). " I^ Lincoln ever 



xiv INTRODUCTORY 

gentle and lovable mother who bore him, and of whom he 
always spoke with such deep reverence and affection,^ the very 
right to the name by which she was known.^ 

In spite of this general acceptance of pauper progenitors, 
there were, even during the President's lifetime, some suspi- 
cions of the truth, and a derivation from the sturdy stock of 
the Lincolns of Hingham, Mass., was suggested and its possi- 
bility recognised with pleasure by Lincoln himself.^ 

As a matter of fact, the exact reverse of this lowly origin 
of the Lincoln Family was the case, and this will receive its 
final and convincing proof in the following pages, in which 
will be demonstrated the fact that for four centuries the an- 
cestors of Abraham Lincoln were easily the peers of their 
associates in England as well as in America ; as prosperous yeo- 
men or minor gentry in the Old World, and, from the time of 
their arrival in the Colony, foremost in the ranks of those who 
developed the wilderness into the fair land we love to-day, and 
of which their descendant was destined to be the savior. 

Of the eleven generations of clearly proven ancestry, one 
generation only, the President's unfortunate father, has been 
unable to maintain the claim of primus inter pares, and this 
through no fault of his own, but by a chain of calamities 
even more tragic and fatal to him than those which deprived 

told such a story to Herndon — which may be confidently disbelieved — he 
was mistaken, and must have been misled by some evil whisper unhappily 
brought to his ears." (" The Mother of Lincoln," by H. M. Jenkins, Penn. 
Hist. Mag., vol. xxiv, p. 130.) 

' Holland's Life of Lincoln, p. 23. 

=* This myth, at first not admitted to print, existed orally and seems to have 
crawled into the light of day in the maliciously mendacious statement of Hern- 
don that Lincoln himself had so informed him (^Life of Lincoln, vol. i, p. 3) ; the 
fabrication of an embittered office-seeker whose ambition outran his ability, and 
whose falsehood has now been made plain by recently discovered proofs which 
have swept away all possible doubts in either case. 

» N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., July, 1894, vol. xlviii, p. 328. 



INTRODUCTORY xv 

Edward Lincoln, the father of Samuel Lincoln, the English 
emigrant, of his birthright.' 

Many attempts have been made to clear away the mystery 
surrounding the genealogy of the family, beginning in 1848, 
when Hon. Solomon Lincoln, the well-known historian of 
Hingham, Mass., in correspondence with Abraham Lincoln, 
then a member of Congress, elicited from him his scanty 
knowledge of his forefathers. This material was not printed 
until after the President's death,* and was followed, a year 
later, by the best of the early histories of Lincoln,^ in which 
was set forth for the first time an outline of what has since 
proved to be substantially the correct pedigree of the Ameri- 
can lineage. 

Gradually other contributions to the truth filtered to light, 
notably those of Mr. W. J. Potts of Camden, N. ].,* and of 
Mr. Samuel Shackford of Chicago,^ the latter being a mas- 
terly resume of the facts proving the direct descent of the 
President's family from the parent stock at Hingham, Mass. 

The American Pedigree had now been placed upon a sound 
basis and accepted by all intelligent writers, although certain 
details of no small importance to the truth of history still 
remained hidden and will be first made public here, adding 
important names and lineages to the pedigree, and, in some 
cases, disproving statements honestly put forward as facts, but 
which will not bear the lime-light of criticism, and whose 
elimination but leaves the proven pedigree stronger by so much 
in the test which has been applied to it. 

The English Ancestry had remained until recently an un- 

' See English Ancestry, infra. 

* N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., October, 1865, vol. xix, p. 360. 
' Life of Abraham Lincoln., by J. G. Holland, 1866. 
^ A^. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, April, 1872, vol. iii, p. 69. 
s A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., April, 1887, vol. xli, p. 153. A portion of this 
article had already appeared in the Chicago Tribune. 



xvi INTRODUCTORY 

solved, and apparently insoluble, problem, and one with which 
the American author had battled for a score of years, the last 
three of which were in conjunction with his English col- 
league, to whose keen eye it was given at last to detect the 
one document which could ever have given the key to the 
hidden mystery. This happy discovery brought order out of 
the chaos of documents, abstracts, and references so painfully 
accumulated, which now fell together like the pattern in a 
kaleidescope or the blocks of a Chinese puzzle. 

The long quest, ended at last, and crowned by a reward 
far exceeding the most sanguine anticipations, now enables 
us to give to history, in one of the clearest and most perfectly 
proven pedigrees that it has ever been our fortune to con- 
struct, the full lineage of the Greatest American. 

Finis coronat opus. 



PART I 
THE ENGLISH ANCESTRY 



THE ANCESTRY OF 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

CHAPTER I 

THE EMIGRANT, HIS HOME AND 
PARENTAGE 

IEAVING the train at Kimberley station on the Norwich 
and Dereham line, and taking the road to Watton, — 
^ the reputed scene of the murder of the " Babes in the 
Wood," — you find yourself, after a couple of miles of almost 
imperceptible ascent between typical English hedgerows, on 
the crest of a billow of hills of no great height, extending, 
roughly speaking, from northwest to southeast of the horizon. 
You are here in the very heart of a region of churches. From 
the spot where you stand half a score or more of towers and 
spires, marking each its thickly planted God's-acre, may be 
picked out on a clear day from amidst the surrounding land- 
scape. The nearest rises directly before you — a square gray 
tower in a setting of green — at the distance of a short mile. It 
marks the site of what is destined to become, in the eyes of 
every patriotic American citizen, a national Mecca ; for in it we 
have our first glimpse of Hingham, the birthplace of the man 
who gave to America one of her greatest sons — Abraham 
Lincoln. 

Of all the towns and villages in England which, close upon 
three centuries ago, contributed each its quota of hardy pio- 



4 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

neers towards the settlement of the American colonies, none 
gave more generously of her best and dearest than did this old- 
time market-town dozing beneath her gray church-tower. 
Her sons were " weary of forcing their beards into the ortho- 
dox bent," of "barking at the bishops," of tilling a soil they 
could never call their own. Other conditions, they had heard, 
prevailed beyond the seas, in a newer, broader land where the 
breath of life was not yet grown effete. Undeterred by the 
reputed hardships of existence there, they flocked westward, 
eager to be free. 

Amongst those who in the later thirties of the seventeenth 
century were overtaken by the swiftly rising tide of emigra- 
tion, was a Norfolk youth named Samuel Lincoln. Born in 
Hingham, he had been early apprenticed to one Francis 
Lawes of Norwich, and it was in his capacity of indentured 
servant to this man — a weaver by trade — that he embarked 
for America, together with his master and his master's family, 
either at the port of Ipswich in the adjoining county of Suf- 
folk, — or at Yarmouth, in his native county,^ — on the eighth 
day of April, 1637. The passage was no Mauretanian one. For 
two months and twelve days the vessel breasted the Atlantic, 
and it was not until the 20th of June that Lawes and his party, 
disembarking at Boston, first set foot on the soil of their adop- 
tion. Our boy-pioneer was then — how old? 

On this point there is much conflict of evidence. It was on 
Sunday, the 24th of August, 1622, that he was publicly bap- 
tised at the font of the parish church of Hingham, and in the 
ordinary course of things he would then be only a few days, 
or at the most only a few weeks, old. This would make his 
age about fifteen at the time of his emigration. The shipping 
lists which have come down to us, on the other hand, give his 

' For the cause of this uncertainty see entry in the Shipping List in Appendix, 
p. 164. 



THE EMIGRANT 5 

age at that time as eighteen ; and this agrees with his age as 
recorded at death, which occurred in 1 690, when he is said to 
have been seventy-one. If, however, we assume these figures 
to be correct, we are at once landed in a difficulty, since he 
must in that case have been born in 1 619, or about a year 
before his brother Daniel, whereas Daniel is well known to 
have been his senior. We are consequently forced to the con- 
clusion that the figures given in the shipping list and the 
record of Samuel's death cannot be relied upon, and that, at 
the time of his leaving England, he was nearer fifteen than 
eighteen years of age. If it be objected that fifteen was a very 
early age at which to emigrate, especially in those remote and 
perilous times, it must be borne in mind that young Samuel 
did not pass beyond seas on his own initiative, but as an in- 
dentured apprentice who had no option save to follow the 
fortunes of his master. Added to this, there was in his case a 
strong incentive to emigration. His eldest brother Thomas, 
and his elder brother Daniel, were already in New England. 
Thomas, who was also by occupation a weaver, went out as 
early as 1633, in company with his "cousin" Nicholas Jacob 
— probably a mercer of Norwich, where he was admitted 
freeman June 21,11 James I, after serving his apprenticeship 
with William Peters of that city. Of Jacob's family nothing 
certain is known, although there is some reason for believing 
him to have been a brother of Simon Jacob of Harleston, 
county Norfolk, gent., whose will is to be found in the Pre- 
rogative Court of Canterbury.' One circumstance, however, 
connects him unquestionably with Hingham. Two of his chil- 
dren were baptised there — John in February, 1630; Mary 
in May, 1632. The nature of the cousinship subsisting be- 
tween him and Thomas Lincoln has not been developed and 
is consequently altogether indeterminate; but the reasonable 

* Register Dycer^ folio 113. 



6 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

assumption is that Thomas Lincoln's mother — Edward Lin- 
coln's wife — was a sister to Nicholas Jacob's father. 

Of the baptism of Thomas Lincoln the Hingham register 
contains no record — for the all-sufficient reason, there can be 
no doubt, that he, as his father's eldest son, was born and bap- 
tised before the year 1600, when that register has its present 
beginning. Neither his marriage, moreover, nor the baptisms 
of such children as may have been born to him before he 
left England, are to be found there. As an apprentice to the 
weaving he probably removed from Hingham, as his younger 
brother Samuel is know^n to have done, and married in the 
place where he acquired and for a time plied his trade. 

The minister who officiated on the occasion of Samuel Lin- 
coln's baptism is no stranger to us. He is, in fact, none other 
than the Rev. Robert Peck, that fearless leader of the ultra- 
puritan movement who, but a few years later, defied the prelacy 
and called down upon his devoted head the wrath of Laud and 
the entire Bench of Bishops. 

The story of that stirring episode will bear repetition — 
and the more so since it is, in a very intimate sense, the story 
of our boy-pioneer. It centred, ironically enough, in that em- 
blem of Christian unity and brotherly love, the communion 
table, which, since the time of the Reformation, had stood 
unassumingly in the body or nave of the church, where all 
might approach it without restrictions other than those im- 
posed by conscience. To the ritualists, desirous of closer con- 
formity to the ancient Catholic usage, this was utter sacrilege. 
The Holy Table, according to their contention, should be 
restored to its original position against the eastern wall of the 
chancel, where, elevated upon a dais symbolical of its sacred 
character, it should be railed off from contact with the lay 
herd. Of this view the most ardent and bigoted exponent was 
perhaps Laud, the whilom Reading clothier's son, now Arch- 



THE EMIGRANT 7 

bishop of Canterbury. By his historic edict of 1634 he en- 
joined that in every parish church within his jurisdiction the 
Holy Table should be so placed and segregated. Actuated as 
it notoriously was by religious intolerance of the most viru- 
lent type, the mandate fell upon the startled country like a 
spark on powder.' 

Foremost amongst the more strenuous opponents of the 
measure was Robert Peck, the obscure rector of Hingham. 
For thirty years he had followed the ritualistic tendencies of 
the few, as opposed to the puritan sentiments of the many, 
with watchful eye and growing alarm. For thirty years he 
had ministered to the spiritual needs of his flock in all scrip- 
tural simplicity, combating those tendencies with many a 
trenchant argument embellished, after the manner of the 
time, with pulpit Latin. Now the time for action had come. 
The episcopal fiat had gone forth — the proctors had done 
their work. The plain old communion table, the scene and 
centre of many a homely love-feast, had become a thing glo- 
rified, bedizened, hateful. In the eyes of the simple-minded 
country parson the change spelt popery. He would have none 
of it. Summoning to his aid a like-minded band of parish- 
ioners, — the Gilmans, the Hubberds, the Lincolns, all good 
men and true, — he led them to the desecrated church. For 
what they were about to do no Episcopal Faculty was sought 
or required. A higher authority than that of" papish " bishops 
was theirs. Stripping the altar of its tinsel decorations, they 
carried it back to its old familiar place, and then, armed with 
axes, picks, and spades, they not only hacked the obnoxious 
" rayle of joyner's worke" into matchwood, but, as a more 
emphatic protest against the Pope and all his devices, dug up 

' It will, of course, be understood that the authors are here expressing no 
personal convictions or beliefs. They are merely telling the story of this epi- 
sode in terms necessary to its narration. 



8 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

and lowered the floor of the chancel to a depth of several 
inches below the level of the nave. 

For this high-handed proceeding Peck was immediately- 
cited by his Bishop, Matthew Wren of Norwich. Ignoring 
the citation, he speedily found himself deprived of his living. 
Excommunication followed, and Peck, well-nigh beggared 
and wholly disgraced, fell into place in the forefront of that 
numerous army of martyrs, the Plundered Ministers. In such 
a crisis a man of less sterling courage and integrity would 
have cried, Peccavi ! and made his peace with the church 
militant at any price. Peck did neither. Instead, he called 
his people together, and in the words of Slicer in "The Ordi- 
nary," a play then much in vogue, said, with all the hope- 
fulness of despair ; " There is no longer tarrying here. Let 's 
swear fidelity to one another, and so resolve for New Eng- 
land." More than half his parish joined hands with him in 
that epoch-making resolve. 

An amazing exodus was thus begun, — begun, moreover, by 
a class who of all men found it hardest to grub up and destroy 
the old life-roots, — men born and bred on the land, as their 
ancestors had been for untold generations before them. But 
a time of crisis had come. For them there was no longer 
tarrying. By sale or surrender the ancestral acres were hur- 
riedly "put off" to the highest bidder. Farm implements 
and stock, household stuff and personal effects, all went the 
way of the hammer or the Dutch candle. All except a feather 
bed or two, the old spruce or oak or cypress-wood family 
chest, the cob-irons, the pewter " garnish," and the silver 
spoons — priceless heirlooms, descended from father to son 
from time immemorial. These, together with such other 
necessary household utensils and personal gear as could be 
transported in safety and with ease, alone were retained. Thus 
variously laden, in groups of twos and threes, in families 



THE EMIGRANT 9 

or long-drawn procession, these daring adventurers for con- 
science' sake made their way to some convenient seaport and 
there, their passes secured, took shipping for the land of 
promise. Hingham was left semi-depopulated. In the Bod- 
leian Library at Oxford may be seen a petition, signed by the 
few substantial inhabitants who remained, setting forth in 
pathetic terms the sore straits to which the community was 
reduced by the recent exodus. 

It was in an atmosphere inspired by such a man as this — a 
man at that time at least possessing in an eminent degree all 
the courage of his simple but devout convictions — that young 
Samuel Lincoln passed the twelve or thirteen years of his 
life before he entered upon his apprenticeship to the Norwich 
weaver. The effect upon his character of Peck's teachings and 
example must have been marked and indelible, and in it 
we may perhaps trace the inception of those greater qualities 
which, six generations later, were to rivet the gaze of an 
astonished and admiring world upon his lineal descendant, 
Abraham Lincoln. 

Although the Lincolns had been resident in Norfolk for 
very many generations before Samuel of Hingham first saw 
the light of day, the records they have left upon the annals 
of their times are singularly few. In the last year of Queen 
Mary's reign Norwich saw three brothers Lincoln, foolishly 
emulous of the earlier example of the ill-starred brothers Kett, 
hanged, drawn, and quartered for endeavouring to stir up insur- 
rection. Caistor-next-the-Sea had for rector in the year 1537 
a certain Nicholas Lincoln who, notwithstanding the fact that 
parsons were notorious poachers in those days, must not be 
confounded with that Nicholas Lincoln of the adjoining par- 
ish of Rollesby, who at a Court Leet holden for the Manor of 
Padham Hall in Ormesby on Thursday after the Annunciation, 
in the year of grace 1507, was amerced in the sum of three- 



lo THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

pence on the score of his being " a comon fysher with pyk- 
hoks" in the preserved waters of that Manor. Another cleri- 
cal representative of the family, one " Sir " John Lincoln, — 
for parsons were commonly styled " Sir " in those days, — in 
1387 came into the handsome legacy of one hundred shillings 
under the will of Sir John Howard, as an incentive to pray for 
the repose of the donor's soul. This "Sir" John Lincoln was 
rector of Weeting. In 1 298 Thomas de Lingcole ' gave to the 
high altar of the church of St. Mary Coslanyin Norwich, "a 
taper of wax, a lamp, and the rent of Colegate," of which he 
was doubtless farmer. The mural tablet commemorating this 
benefaction has only recently been unearthed and is here repro- 
duced. It is believed to be the most ancient in that ancient 
cathedral city. Eight years before it was first set up, Adam, son 
of William de Lincoln of Great Yarmouth, accompanied by 
Johan his wife, made a journey to London, and there, in the 
Court of the Lord King at Westminster, on the morrow of the 
Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mary, received of Wal- 
ter de Wyndsor a grant by Fine of the Manor of Codesmore 
in Rutlandshire, and of certain messuages, lands, and other tene- 
ments in East Ham and West Ham, county Essex. He was the 
progenitor of the Essex Lincolns, as he in all likelihood was 
of the Norfolk Lincolns with whom we are here concerned. 
Beyond this point the records do not carry us. The pioneer of 
the Norfolk Lincolns, whether Adam of Great Yarmouth or 
another, doubtless hailed from the city or shire of that name; 
but the exact time when he made his way across the Fenlands 
and the Wash, and acquired "a local habitation" in the 
sturdier county by the northern sea, is lost in the mists of an- 
tiquity. 

Owing to a fortunate circumstance presently to be related, 

* The name Lincoln is not infrequently so spelled, with slight variations, as 
late as the reign of Elizabeth. 



THE EMIGRANT n 

those mists no longer, as formerly, drift down the ages and wrap 
in impenetrable obscurity the immediate ancestry of Samuel 
Lincoln, emigrant ancestor of our great President, Concern- 
ing his mother, it is true, there is still uncertainty. Around her 
personality and her name the mists close in again, denying us 
light where we most desire to see clearly. For this the hand 
that traced the record of Samuel's baptism, the hand of Robert 
Peck, is mainly responsible. In that record, as in all others of 
a like nature relating to the family, it has uniformly consigned 
the mother to oblivion. Yet the omission of her name from 
the yellow pages of the parish register is less remarkable than 
at first sight appears. With the parsons of those days maternity 
— unless, indeed, it chanced to be of the baser sort, in which 
case the whole sad story of man's perfidy and woman's wrongs 
was set out with great minuteness and dubious taste — counted 
for little. Paternity was everything; and hence it comes about 
that the one fact clearly recorded of our boy-emigrant, in the 
pages of the Hingham register, is that he was the son of 
Edward Lincoln. A comparison of entries and dates further 
shows him to have been his father's seventh child and sixth 
and youngest son. 

So much is plainly written in the book for all to read. But 
beyond this it does not go, for the fatal reason that the book 
is defective. A well-preserved register would have introduced 
us in all probability to the year 1558 and the emigrant's grand- 
father; or, bridging another generation of those who so long 
since joined the majority, have ushered us into the year 1538^ 
and the presence of his great-grandfather. This book unhap- 
pily does neither the one thing nor the other. Through that 

* The year in which Parish Registers were first ordered to be kept in Eng- 
land by Cromwell, Vicar-General of Henry VIII. Only eight registers are 
known to exist before that time, and only about eight hundred of 1538 are pre- 
served. In 1558, under an order from the young Queen, then just come to the 
throne, the practice became general and most of the old registers date thence. 



12 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

criminal carelessness which, in England, has marked the de- 
struction of so many priceless records of this description, its 
earlier portion is missing — wantonly torn away from the body 
of the book and irrevocably lost ; while the portion that hap- 
pily survives begins to unfold its triple tale of marriage, chris- 
tening, and death, in the most exasperatingly inconsequent 
manner, with the year of grace 1600 — thus leaving us, so far at 
least as this source of information is concerned, in bewildered 
uncertainty as to how many or what Hingham Lincolns lived 
and died before that comparatively modern date. It tells us the 
name of Samuel's father; but when the eager interrogator of 
the past asks who were his forebears, it remains as silent as the 
grave in which they lie. 

Such was the state of the case, as regards the immediate an- 
cestry of Samuel, and the entire English ancestry of Abraham 
Lincoln, until as recently as the year 1906. Previous to that 
time many attempts had been made to trace this descent, and 
in every instance the searcher, on reaching a certain well-de- 
fined point in his investigations, found himself face to face 
with a blank wall which he could neither pierce nor scale. 
Of that wall the foundation was the register of Hingham, 
with its utterly inconsequent beginning. Upon this were 
piled, in successive formidable courses, the ancient wills for 
the county of Norfolk, stored at Norwich, the vast accumu- 
lation of testamentary records garnered into the strong-rooms 
of Somerset House, and the inexhaustible muniments of the 
Public Record Office. Scan these as he would, the keenest 
searcher could find in them no substitute for the lost portion 
of the Hingham register, no solution of the difficulty created 
by that loss, no father — to narrow the issue down to its finest 
point — for Edward Lincoln, father of the boy who crossed 
the Atlantic in 1637. 



CHAPTER II 

A FAMILY QUARREL AND ITS 
CONSEQUENCES 

THE successes achieved by the genealogist, the anti- 
quary, and the archaeologist, are not infrequently won 
from the flotsam and jetsam of the ages by accident 
rather than by reasoned design or patient endeavour, and often, 
when he is on the verge of despair, the turn of a leaf, the in- 
voluntary glance of an eye, or some equally trivial circumstance 
will put him, in one swift moment replete with triumph, in 
full possession of that which he has vainly sought through weary 
years. He enjoys manorial rights over the foreshore of time, 
but it is the casual wave, as often as deliberate incursions into 
the deep, that lays the treasure at his feet. 

It was such an accident as this that marked as a red-letter 
day in Lincoln family history a certain date late in the year 1906. 
On that day the writers of this narrative, after a prolonged 
period of unremitting eflbrt in the course of which no genea- 
logical stone, to the best of their knowledge and belief, had 
been left unturned, arrived at a point in their researches where, 
as it seemed, all hope of solving the apparently inscrutable 
problem of Samuel Lincoln's ancestry must be forever aban- 
doned. Then, in the space of a moment, the unexpected hap- 
pened. The reference or press-mark to a certain ancient suit 
in Chancery — a suit then under re-investigation in this seem- 
ingly hopeless connection — was found to have been wrongly 
noted by the searcher to whom the listing had been entrusted. 
In order to correct the inaccuracy a volume of the Calendar 
of the Proceedings in Chancery was taken down from one of 



14 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

the shelves of the Public Record Office and casually opened 
— when there, under the searcher's very eye, lay the laconic 
record of another suit, by some malign mischance previously 
overlooked, which supplied the long-sought key to the riddle. 
The Chancery suit^ so unexpectedly brought to light con- 
stitutes one of those rare "finds" which persistently haunt the 
genealogist's dreams, but seldom bless his waking hours. Tak- 
ing up the thread of Samuel Lincoln's descent as abruptly as 
the defective Hingham register lays it down, it tells us that 
his father, Edward, was eldest son and heir of Richard, who 
in turn was eldest son and heir of Robert Lincoln. Within 
the compass of a few square inches of discoloured parchment 
it gives us, when taken in conjunction with the baptism of 
Samuel, a skeleton pedigree of four generations, thus: — 

Robert Lincoln, 
eldest son and heir 



Richard Lincoln, ? 
eldest son and heir 



Edward Lincoln, 
eldest son and heir 



Samuel Lincoln 

Nor is this all. The suit is a peculiar one, and from the very 
nature of the case a variety of other facts are brought to light 
in the course of the pleadings, each of which, when we come 
to examine it closely, is replete with special interest. Thus the 

' Chancery Proceedings^ Series II, 317 : 45 — Anne and Elizabeth Lincoln v. 
Edward Lincoln. 










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A FAMILY QUARREL 15 

point in dispute is the possession of a certain parcel of copyhold 
land, lying in two several pieces — one of them " builded vppon 
with a litle cottage of the yerely valewe of fortie shillings" — 
in the parishes of Swanton Morley and Great Witchingham, 
and containing together a matter of six acres. This land 
is claimed by Anne and Elizabeth Lincoln, "beinge infants 
within the age of one and twentie yeres," through their 
guardian, John Bird, gent. It had belonged to their father, 
Richard Lincoln, who, having acquired it by purchase in 
his lifetime, had by his last will and testament devised it to 
them. They claim it as against Edward Lincoln, defendant in 
the action, who not only *'doth thretten ymediately to enter 
into the premisses and cleerly to ouste and dispossesse them 
thereof," but, still worse, "hath suppressed and deteyned the 
said will, and refuseth to prove the same." Their Bill of Com- 
plaint is sworn on the 1 1 th of May, 1 6 2 1 , and in it they pray, 
in the quaint phraseology usual in such petitions, that "his 
majesties gratious writt of subpoena be yssued against the said 
Edward, comanding him at a certeyne day and vnder a cer- 
teyne payne personally to appeare before the Cort of Chaun- 
cery, then and there to answere" for the wrong he is alleged 
to have put upon them. In accordance with this prayer a writ 
— directed, singularly enough, to Robert Peck, clerk, amongst 
other local Justices of the Peace — was issued on the 14th of 
the same month. 

In these circumstances Edward Lincoln had no option but 
to set up his defence. This he proceeded to do without loss 
of time. His answer to the charges levelled at him is dated the 
2d of June, and in it he unfolds a tale which at once lifts the 
case into the realm of the romantic. 

His late father, Richard Lincoln, was in his lifetime pos- 
sessed of a goodly estate in Hingham, comprising, apart from 
copyhold possessions, a house and thirty-five acres of freehold 



i6 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

meadow and pasture worth some £^10 a year "to be letten"; 
or, as the daughters assert, ^^30. To this estate his father had 
succeeded on the death of his father, Robert Lincoln, whose 
birthright it had also been. But Richard Lincoln, after com- 
ing into the property, quickly discovered other and more 
absorbing interests in life. In the adjoining parish of Car- 
brooke, at the old Manor House there, lived a young and 
beautiful girl, Elizabeth Remching by name, eldest daughter 
of Richard Remching, gentleman, and Elizabeth his wife. 
This girl and Richard Lincoln were of about the same age, 
while in social position they were on a strict equality. Her 
Richard Lincoln wooed, and in due course wedded.' But first 
he proceeded to deal with the ancestral lands — or, rather, 
with such portion of them as was of the nature of freehold — 
with an eye to the future. Calling in the necessary legal aid, he 
tied up those lands to the use of himself and his wife that was 
to be, for the term of their lives and of the life of the longer 
liver of them, with remainder after their decease to the heir 
of their bodies. Defendant, only surviving child of the mar- 
riage,"" is that heir, and as such he claims the property under 
the marriage settlement — a settlement which no act of his 
father could ever set aside or annul without his, the next heir's, 
express consent. 

So much for his rights in general. There still remain to be 
dealt with, first, the six acres specially claimed by the two 
infants-at-law, Anne and Elizabeth Lincoln, which, having 

' Strictly speaking, Edward Lincoln's answer makes his mother the daughter 
of Edward Remching, thus perpetrating a chronological absurdity that is fully 
disproved by the Remching pedigree appended to this work. The substitution 
of Edward for Richard was certainly a mistake on the part of the clerk who 
drew the pleadings, since it can hardly be credited that a man so well posted 
in his own lineage as Edward Lincoln shows himself to be, could have been 
ignorant of the name of his maternal grandfather. 

* Another child, a son baptised Henry, was born in 1574. He was probably 
Edward's senior, but died in infancy. 



A FAMILY QUARREL 17 

been purchased by Richard Lincoln in his lifetime, do not 
come within the scope of the marriage settlement ; and, sec- 
ond, the scandalous aspersion cast upon him, of having sup- 
pressed his father's will. To this task he next addresses him- 
self, and in order to show how groundless is their claim to 
the land, how utterly mendacious and devoid of truth their 
allegation concerning the will, he takes the Court into his 
confidence and proceeds to disclose some highly interesting 
particulars of family history. 

The settlement in question was made as long ago as the 
sixteenth year of the sovereign lady Elizabeth, 1574, while 
the action he is rebutting falls in the year 1621. Much had 
happened in the interval. In the first place Elizabeth (Rem- 
ching) Lincoln, his mother, had died, leaving him, an infant 
of tender years, too young to mourn her loss. Then his father 
married again, and a second son, Richard, came on the scene, 
grew to manhood, and espoused a daughter of the Fulshams 
— on which occasion his father, with Edward's consent, set- 
tled upon him a considerable portion of his estate. Meantime 
another affliction had fallen. The second wife — young Rich- 
ard's mother — also died. She was quickly succeeded by a 
third, a widow, Margery Dunham by name, who by some 
strange fatality speedily followed her predecessors. It was of 
her that her husband purchased part of the land afterwards 
in question. Her place did not long remain vacant, for Rich- 
ard Lincoln, senior, had now acquired the marrying habit. 
Casting about him for a fresh companion in his solitude, 
he fixed his affections, unhappily for the family peace and 
for young Edward Lincoln's future prospects, upon another 
widow, one Anne Small or Smale, a woman apparently several 
years his junior. With this marriage the situation, already 
delicate, speedily became complicated. 

Anne Small's maiden name was Bird, daughter of 



i8 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

Bird of Great Witchingham. Of her family we know little, 
save that they ranked as gentry/ Of her first husband we 
know nothing, except that he considerately died in time to 
provide her with an eminently eligible second and a fresh 
field for the exercise of talents with which nature had liberally, 
although perhaps somewhat unwisely, endowed her. She had 
not long been established in her new home ere trouble began. 

As so often happens in such cases, the dissension had its 
origin in additions to the family circle. These were not long 
in coming. Anne, the first child of the fourth marriage, was 
baptised in May, 1599; Elizabeth, the second child, in No- 
vember, 1602 ; and Henry, the third and last, in June, 1605.' 
In thirty-two years Richard Lincoln led four brides to the 
altar, followed three wives to the grave, and welcomed six, if 
not more, children to his heart and home. Five of those chil- 
dren to our certain knowledge survived, and it was the unen- 
viable mission of Anne Small, the fourth and last wife, to sow 
dissension amongst them and to alienate the father's affections 
and property from Edward, his eldest son and heir. 

The estrangement had its inception, to all appearances, in 
the father's fourth marriage ; it spread itself over a consid- 
erable period of time, reaching its culmination in his tes- 
tamentary dispositions, its logical sequence in the litigation 
which followed his decease. The beginning of the year 16 16, 
new style, saw it at its height. By this time Richard Lincoln 
— born, in all likelihood, prior to the outbreak of Rett's re- 
bellion in 1 549 — began to feel the weight of years. Whether 
conscious of it or not, he fell far more under the influence of 
his last wife. For a matter of nearly two decades he had been 
more or less under her thumb, and her machinations were 

' Bird of Witchingham bore : Argent^ a cross patonc'e between four martlets 
gules^ a canton azure ; and for crest : Out of a coronet a demi-greyhound salient 
proper, 

' Registers of Swanton Morley. See Appendix. 



A FAMILY QUARREL 19 

now to produce the fruit she desired to pluck for herself and 
her children at the expense of Edward Lincoln, her stepson 
thrice removed. On the 3d of January, 16 16, Richard Lin- 
coln sat himself down in his house at Swanton Morley and 
" made and declared " his last will and testament, being then, 
" praysed be Almightie God, of goode mynde and memorie." 
Alas ! the pious asseveration. Neither in that will, nor in the 
codicil which he appended to it on the 2d of February, some 
three years later, did he once remember his eldest son to the 
extent of a shilling piece. 

This lapse of memory is the more remarkable, not to say 
significant, in view of what he does call to remembrance in 
the writing of this most human document.' While the heir 
of his body is ignored, that body itself is reverently consigned 
to the earth, to be buried " in the church of Hingham, in 
the midle Alley there." ^ A legacy often shillings is left to 
the church for his interment in that honourable place. This 
was for the " breaking of the ground," and went to the rec- 
tor. The poor of Hingham, the parish of himself and his 
fathers, receive twenty shillings; the poor of Swanton Mor- 
ley, where he was merely a sojourner, one half that amount; 
the poor of Great Witchingham, his wife's parish, six and 
eightpence. To Anne, his wife, — the watchful monitor at 
his elbow, — are devised all his freehold houses and lands 
theretofore undealt with — not in perpetuity, it is true, nor 
yet for the term of her life, but for such time as Henry, his 
youngest son, and hers, remains in his nonage. He was then 
but ten years old. In return for this substantial provision she 
is required to " meynetaine and bringe him vpp vnto littera- 

* Consistory Court of Norwich, Register 1620, folio 26. 

* Although the Hingham register does not show that the burial actually 
took place in the church, there is no reason to suppose that his wishes were 
not faithfully carried out. 



20 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

ture and good educacon," as befits the son of a country gentle- 
man who is content, with the grave in view, to write himself 
down plain yeoman. If, however, she happen to " marrie 
and take another husband," she is to be " discharged of the 
custodie " of young Henry, and is to pay into the hands of 
testator's loving friend, John Bird, gent., — her own brother, 

— the sum of twenty marks yearly for the lad's maintenance, 
as a mild penalty upon such mature waywardness. This, be 
it observed, whilst retaining the lands. The two daughters, 
Anne and Elizabeth, then in their seventeenth and fourteenth 
years respectively, get each fourscore pounds at full age or 
marriage, "which shall first happen." In addition to this 
handsome portion, they are to enjoy absolutely the four acres 
of copyhold land in Swanton Morley lately purchased of one 
Robert Skarff, as well as the two acres in Great Witchingham 
which their father had of Margery Dunham, "sometime" 
his wife. This is the land claimed by the daughters, as 
against Edward Lincoln — who is of course their half-brother 

— in 1 62 1. Edward and Henry Bird, his wife's brothers, 
and Richard Small, her son, come in for affectionate remem- 
brance; whilst John Bird, another of her brothers, is ap- 
pointed to the important post of supervisor under the will. 
The entire residue of his estate — a very considerable one, 
materially augmented, no doubt, by his repeated matrimonial 
ventures — goes to Anne, his wife, who takes good care to 
see that she is named sole executrix. As Edward Lincoln 
himself so bitterly expresses it, in his answer to the charges 
made against him by his two half-sisters, his father " was 
much laboured by his latter wife to make a will for the ad- 
vancement of hir and hir children," who were in consequence 
"preferred with liberall and lardge porcons," whilst he, the 
object of her cordial detestation, was " disinherited by her 
meanes and procurement." 



A FAMILY QUARREL 21 

In effect his situation was rather less deplorable than he 
here represents it to be. Of his father's personal estate, it is 
true, he got nothing, — every stiver of it, with the exception 
of a few minor legacies in which he did not share, going to 
the fourth wife and her children. But in respect of his 
father's real estate he fared rather better, as we shall presently 
see. 

The will made by Richard Lincoln on the 3d of January, 
1 61 6, — the original is still preserved in the Crown Registry 
at Norwich, — consists of four sheets of paper, each neatly 
sealed at the bottom with a little seal of red wax,' bearing the 
device of a hound ; and although it is neither in his own hand- 
writing, nor yet signed otherwise than with his mark, these 
circumstances must not be taken as going to prove that he was 
unable to write, or that the will was made when he lay in extre- 
mis. The cross used in lieu of signature, or when a signatory 
was unable to write, at that time still retained much of its 
original affirmatory and sacred significance, and was conse- 
quently employed by many persons of sufficient literary attain- 
ments to subscribe their names did they choose to do so. 
Richard Lincoln, although he appended only his "mark" to 
the will, may therefore have been well able to write. About 
his state of health at the time, there is less uncertainty. As a 
matter of fact he was not "sick in body," and this being so, 
it is obvious that the will is the utterance of a man who has 
the fear of his wife rather than the fear of death before his 
eyes — that it is, in short, a concession to petticoat rule, a bid 
for domestic peace. Probably it did not fall altogether short 
of the desired effect, since he survived it by nearly five years. 

It was in December, 1620, that the end came. Returning 
one day from his customary round in the fields to his home 

' Here reproduced, and apparently that of his wife's family, Bird of Witch- 
ingham. See page 60. 



2 2 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

at S wanton Morley, he fell to the ground lifeless, "surprised 
by sudden death," as his daughters so graphically express it, in 
the midst of a vigorous old age. On the 23d of that month his 
mortal remains were laid to rest, as we may fairly assume, in 
the spot he had chosen for their interment, the middle aisle of 
Hingham church. With all decent haste his widow proceeded 
to deal with the will, proving it in the Consistory Court of 
the Bishop of Norwich on the 24th day of February, 1621. 
On the 1 1 th of May following, well within three months after 
the will had been so carried to probate by their own mother, 
Anne and Elizabeth Lincoln deliberately swore that Edward 
Lincoln, their half-brother, had suppressed it ! 

By what means they were induced to put forward a state- 
ment so utterly at variance with the facts of the case — for 
Edward Lincoln, so far from having suppressed the will, knew 
nothing whatever about it except what rumour told him — or 
to take the far more serious step of putting it forward on oath, 
it is not easy to conceive. In common fairness to them, and 
in view of their youth, we must give them credit for sincerity 
and a belief that what they alleged to be true was true in sub- 
stance and in fact; and once this point is conceded, as it must 
be by every unbiassed student of the case, there remains only 
one reasonable explanation of their open and pronounced hos- 
tility to their half-brother, as of the false charges they formu- 
lated against him. They had been deceived by and were the 
unconscious tools of their mother, who, together with their 
uncle and guardian, John Bird, sought, by playing upon their 
inexperience, their self-interest, and their youthful credulity, 
to repair the one fatal omission of which their father had 
been — perhaps intentionally — guilty between the making of 
the will and his decease. 

That omission, unfortunately for the plaintiffs in our Chan- 
cery suit, had to do with the land devised by the father to the 



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A FAMILY QUARREL 23 

two girls — or, to be more exact, with four acres of it only, 
the other two acres and the cottage having been conveyed to 
Edward, together with ^20 in hand, long before the making 
of the will, as a quid pro quo for his interest in certain other 
land which the father wished to settle upon his second son, 
Richard. This conveyance the father had evidently forgotten 
when making his will ; while, as for the four acres referred 
to above, that land was copyhold, holden of a certain Manor, 
and as such could change hands only in accordance with an 
ancient custom, well recognised in law, known as "surrender 
to uses." To make his will valid, therefore, as regards the 
devise of this four acres to his daughters Anne and Elizabeth, 
"custom" demanded that old Richard Lincoln should go into 
the Manor Court and there, with the consent and co-operation 
of Edward Lincoln, his eldest son and heir-at-law, formally 
"surrender" the land to the use or uses specified and declared 
in that will. This he omitted to do, with the result that when 
he died the land passed by right of inheritance to Edward, 
his next heir, while Anne and Elizabeth, his daughters by the 
grasping fourth wife, were left with only their fourscore pounds 
apiece to console them. 

Such were the highly complicated, not to say tragic, cir- 
cumstances in which this remarkable action at law, this un- 
blushing attempt to bluff Edward Lincoln out of his heredi- 
tary rights, was launched by his stepmother and half-sisters. 
Whether it ever came to a hearing, or what was the upshot of 
it if it did come, we cannot learn with certainty, since no 
Order or Decree in Chancery, relating to the suit, can be 
discovered. But on the face of it the appearances are all in 
favour of the defendant; and provided he was in a position, 
as he doubtless was, to back up his assertions with sound 
documentary evidence, there can be little question as to how 
the action eventuated. The land remained with him. 



24 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

The value of the suit to us, apart from the remarkable series 
of family episodes it so graphically suggests, lies in the fact that 
it supplies a key by which many another document, before 
wholly unintelligible, isolated, or apparently irrelevant to the 
line of descent under investigation, may be correctly placed 
and logically interpreted. The will of Richard Lincoln is a 
case strikingly in point. Although the present writers had 
had that will in their possession for a period of several years 
before the discovery of the Chancery suit, the omission from 
its pages of any allusion to the testator's son, Edward Lincoln, 
rendered it absolutely valueless for the purposes of this en- 
quiry. Failing as it did to supply the long-sought clue to 
Edward's parentage, it ranked merely as an isolated item of 
Lincoln genealogy — one amongst many hundreds — nothing 
more. However much Anne Lincoln deserves our censure for 
hectoring her husband into making that will, we forgive her, 
most readily and heartily, when we consider that the suit was 
brought at her instigation. With its discovery the day dawns, 
and in its light the meaningless will becomes a piece of living 
history. 



CHAPTER III 

FIVE GENERATIONS OF A NORFOLK 

HOUSE 

REVERTING to the division of Richard Lincoln's 
real estate, it is far from easy, in the absence of 
^ those most informing land-records the Manor Rolls,^ 
and in face of the conflicting statements put forward by the 
parties to the Chancery suit, to determine with any degree of 
precision either how much he possessed or how much of what 
he did possess went to each of his sons. 

According to the story told by Anne and Elizabeth Lin- 
coln, their half-brother Edward not only had "all or the 
greater part" of the landed property, but was "further pre- 
ferred and helped with divers guifts and benefitts of very great 
valewe and worthe." On the face of it this statement of the 
case savours strongly of exaggeration; and Edward himself, 
whilst admitting his reversionary interest in the thirty-five acres 
of freehold tied up under the marriage settlement, expressly 
declares that thirty-three acres of that land were afterwards 
released — he receiving twenty pounds and another small par- 
cel of land as a solatium — to his brother Richard, while he 
himself "had only but two acres with a cottage." Later on his 
father made him an additional grant of land worth, as he cal- 
culates its rental value, four pounds yearly ; and as eldest son 

^ The Hingham Manor Rolls are now in the possession of the present Lord 
of the Manor, the Earl of Kimberley, of Kimberley Hall near Wymondham, 
Norfolk, by whose kind permission search is still being prosecuted in his Muni- 
ment Room, but, to the time of going to press, no documents earlier than 1650 
have been discovered. 



26 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

and heir he of course dropped into the disputed six acres on 
his father's death. 

Upon Henry, the youngest son, there had in the meantime 
devolved, by his father's gift, "divers other messuages, howses 
and lands in Hingham, Swanton Morley and Great Witch- 
ingham, of the yerely valewe of fortie pounds." Under the 
will, again, he benefited, on attaining his majority, to the 
extent of tv^^elve acres and a messuage in Sw^anton Morley and 
eight acres in Hingham. Of the three sons Edward would 
thus seem to have fared the worst, the lion's share of the 
estate, so far as we know it, falling to Henry. To what extent 
Edward profited by the other "guifts and benefitts " asserted 
by those mendacious litigants his half-sisters, is open to seri- 
ous question; for if Anne Lincoln, the scheming fourth wife, 
played her cards as cleverly in this matter as she undoubtedly 
did in the matter of the lands, it is highly probable that her 
detested stepson found himself little the richer for his father's 
alleged generosity. 

On the whole, old Richard Lincoln, Samuel's paternal 
grandfather, undoubtedly died possessed of a very respectable 
estate, and had the bulk of it descended in the ordinary course 
to his eldest son, the father of our boy-emigrant would have 
been comparatively well-to-do. As it was, his father's fourth 
marriage ruined his prospects in life and, by raising up other 
hands to grasp the property, made of him a comparatively 
poor man. He acquired little or no additional property, par- 
ticipated in no affairs, figured in few records. Were it not 
for the solitary action at law into which he was unwillingly 
dragged, his name would have come down to us only in the 
pages of a dilapidated and fast-perishing parish register, while 
the fact of his gentle birth, and the pathetic story of the young 
mother who bore but did not live to rear him, would have 
been lost to us forever. Abandoning life's struggle in Febru- 







,k 



^ 
I 

^ 



1 



^ 



VJ 



1^ 



FIVE GENERATIONS 27 

ary, 1640, he was laid to rest on the nth of that month in 
Hingham churchyard. So far as can be ascertained, he left no 
will; yet America at least is indebted to him for a legacy of 
the best that any man can give. At the time of his death no 
fewer than three of his sons — Thomas, Daniel, and Samuel 
— were, as we have already seen, permanently settled in New 
England. The question whether the sons would ever have emi- 
grated had the father been more prosperous, opens up a wide 
vista of speculation. The United States perhaps owes her 
Abraham Lincoln to the circumstance that a lonely Norfolk 
widower, some hundreds of years ago, saw fit to solace him- 
self with a fourth wife whose avarice — to put it as gallantly 
as facts permit us to do — was not less conspicuous than her 
virtue. 

Of her little remains to be told. After Richard's decease 
she lived a widow for the remainder of her days, and died in 
the year 1636, leaving a will' which cannot, unfortunately, 
now be found. Her two daughters, aided no doubt by the 
substantial legacies left to them by their father, had already 
found husbands, — Anne in Robert Gurney, Elizabeth in Wil- 
liam Gunthorpe, both cadets of "gentle" Norfolk houses. 
This we learn from a lawsuit "" in which Henry Lincoln, their 
brother, was involved in the year 1 64 1 . 

As for Henry himself, he had by that time attained to far 
greater affluence than his half-brother Edward ever enjoyed. 
His mother had secured for him an advantageous start in life, 
and although the terms of her will are unknown to us, we may 
reasonably infer that, as regards her own estate, her favourite 
son's prosperity was in no wise diminished by her death. Sur- 

' Consistory Court of Norwich, Register 1637, according to the Calendar 
of Wills, but no registered copy of the will appears, nor does the file for that 
year contain the original. 

' Chancery Proceedings^ Charles I, L. i : 37 — Lincoln v. Gurney. 



28 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

viving her by half an average lifetime, Henry died in 1667, 
in the sixty-third year of his age. He was buried at Swanton 
Morley, where already a little congeries of graves marked the 
last resting-place of his mother, his wife, and his half-brother 
Richard. 

The churchyard at Hingham had also, at this time, its 
cluster of Lincoln graves, some of them hoary with age, 
others comparatively recent. Richard Lincoln alone, of all 
his immediate family, slept his last sleep within the church 
itself. Without lay the son of his first marriage, possibly one 
or more of his four wives, and certainly his father and grand- 
father, both of whom left injunctions in their wills that they 
should be buried there. The place of their interment is no 
longer identifiable. It has been calculated that the burying- 
ground of a populous country parish, such as Hingham then 
was, is sown over with human remains, in its every part, once 
in each two hundred years. The ancient dead are there, but 
no man knoweth the place of their burial. Obliterated by 
the hands of Time and the Sexton, only the Day can re- 
veal it. 

Concerning Robert Lincoln of Hingham, Richard's father, 
we know little more than his will, drawn on the 14th of Jan- 
uary, 1556, and proven on the 29th of the same month,' is 
capable of telling us. That he died a comparatively young man 
is certain, for Richard, the eldest of five children then " being 
on lyve," as they used so picturesquely to express it, was still 
a minor when that untoward event occurred. Much in con- 
sequence devolved upon his mother, Margaret Alberye. On 
her fell the maintenance of the family, the upkeep of the 
homestead, the oversight and cultivation of the lands, until such 
time as Richard should come of age, when he was to have the 
whole property absolutely. This is doubtless the ancestral 

' Arch, of Norfolk, Book 15 : 137. 



FIVE GENERATIONS 29 

estate with part of which he dealt on marrying Elizabeth Rem- 
ching in or about 1574. How much other land, if any, his 
father settled upon him before the making of the will, or how 
much upon his younger brother John, we have no means of 
ascertaining; but under the will itself Richard got no more, 
while John's beneficiary interest was confined to the modest 
sum of five pounds. 

For there were others to be thought of, and a dying man, 
however keen his solicitude for those who are destined to 
survive him, can do no more than his circumstances permit. 
Daughter Katherine must have the tenement in Thetford; 
daughter Agnes, that other tenement in Hingham, known 
from of old as Portman's. Then — most pathetic eventuality 
it is possible to conceive — another child, one who would 
never behold its father's face, had to be provided for. To it, 
if a son, must go Pixton's, and Pitcher's, and Cooper's, and 
Broccle's, and divers other lands in Hingham, including "the 
one rood land at Stumpe Crosse," as from the day of its 
mother's decease; but, if a daughter, then Richard should 
again take the whole, from the time indicated, and pay to this 
his third sister thirty pounds as her child's portion. Here we 
quarrel with the records. They pique our curiosity, but tell us 
no more. Nothing more, that is to say, about the little inde- 
terminate stranger so soon expected in the bereaved house- 
hold ; but about the mother herself a fact of much human 
interest. Left a widow while yet in the very prime of woman- 
hood — enjoying a secure life-interest in a substantial portion 
of her late husband's estate — it is little cause for wonder that 
she should have found favour, notwithstanding her "encum- 
brances," in the eyesof her worthy neighbour, Roger Wright. 
They accordingly made a match of it — to all appearances a 
most happy one. 

Roger Wright not only regarded his wife's children with 



30 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

affection, but left them gratifying tokens of it under his will.' 
Richard was clearly first favourite. To him is devised a close 
of land, and as a special mark of his stepfather's regard he 
shares the executorship jointly with his mother. This was in 
February, 1571. How long his mother survived her second 
husband, or when she died, the records again, with tantalising 
reticence, abstain from telling us; but the appointment goes 
to show that Richard, her son, was then of age — a deduction 
in every way consistent with his marriage to Elizabeth Rem- 
ching a few years later. 

On the 1 8th of April, 1540, another Robert Lincoln of 
Hingham made his will,^ but it, unlike those already quoted, 
relates only to his personal estate. No land is demised,^ none 
mentioned, indeed, except a single close "called Broccles," 
and this we immediately recognise as part of the property 
afterwards settled by the second Robert of Hingham, in the 
year 1556, upon his child then unborn. The will of 1540 
is, in fact, the will of that Robert's father, and it ignores 
the testator's lands because those lands had already been set- 
tled, by means of the convenient "surrender to uses" in the 
Manor Court, in accordance with his wish and intent. In 
framing this, his last will, he saw no reason to disturb or 
vary that arrangement. This deduction tallies exactly with 
the view of the case advanced by Edward Lincoln when, 
in the Chancery suit of 1621, he declares the lands that de- 
scended to his father Richard to have been " the inheritance 
of Robert Lincoln, father of the said Richard." Under the 
actual will Robert got only his father's harness. His interest 
in the lands was already secure. 

' Arch. Norfolk, Book 23 : 158. 

' Arch. Norfolk, Book 9 : 276. 

5 Up to the reign of Henry VIII, no Englishman could leave his lands by 
will away from his eldest son. Hence they were rarely mentioned, the eldest 
son succeeding as a matter of course. 




'" I ' .jij. ,•, f l l'k l' 



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FIVE GENERATIONS 31 

The will of 1540 is noteworthy in another respect. It af- 
fords a pretty illustration of one of the most curious customs 
of the times. In those far-off days it was a by no means un- 
common circumstance, although certainly a most confusing 
one, for two or more children, sons or daughters of the same 
father, to be called by one and the same christian name. Thus 
Thomas Brown has two sons named John, — John senior and 
John junior, — perhaps twins, or children born of different 
mothers. William Jones, being blessed with triplets, or hav- 
ing three sons by successive wives, dubs all three Richard. 
They figure out as Richard the elder, Richard the younger, 
and Richard "the middle." So in the will of 1540 we find 
a dual Rose, — "my daughters. Rose the elder and Rose the 
younger." Elizabeth, an elder sister of these girls, became 
the wife of Hugh Baldwin,^ from whom were descended the 
later Baldwins of Hingham. 

The mother of these girls was Joan,^ and she it was who, 
on the 3d of September, 1543, proved the father's will in the 
Court of the Archdeacon of Norfolk, the testator being then 
but recently deceased. His, so far as we at present know, was 
the first of that little cluster of Lincoln graves in Hingham 
churchyard, now utterly vanished from human ken. Could 
we but identify his last resting-place, with what reverence 
should we not approach the spot ; for in this venerable man 
we have none other than the great-grandsire eight times re- 
moved of Abraham Lincoln, sometime President of the 
United States. The descent on the English side works out 
in this way: — 

^ See his will, Arch. Norfolk, Book 17: 265. 

* Probably Cowper, or Cooper. See will in Appendix. 



32 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 



Robert Lincoln of Hingham, 
died 1543 



Robert Lincoln of Hinghatfiy 

eldest son and heir, died 

1556 



Richard Lincoln oi Hingham, 

and Swanton Morley^ eldest 

son and heir, died 1620 



Edward Lincoln oi Htngham, 

eldest son and heir, died 

1640 



Samuel Lincoln of Hingham, 
Norfolk, and Hingham, Mass., 
youngest son, baptised 24 
August, 1622; died 1690; 
great-great-great-great- 
grandfather of Abraham Lin- 
coln, sixteenth President of the 
United States. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE SOCIAL STATUS OF THE 
LINCOLNS 

yA T this stage of our story we must pause to consider, as 

/ ^ fully as space and the information at our command 
1 m permit, the question that not inappropriately shapes 
itself on the reader's lips : " These Lincolns of Hingham, from 
whom Abraham of the White House was descended — were 
they people of consequence, or just ordinary, every-day folk?" 

The question, it must be frankly admitted at the outset, is 
one of no little difficulty. Our point of view is so remote, the 
perspective of the receding scroll of time so indistinct, it is 
far from easy to determine just how high in the social scale 
these people stood. Only one thing can we be quite sure of. 
If they were not very high up, they were certainly not very 
low down, and their position in a fairly well-defined mid- 
dle stratum is thus indicated as " Minor Gentry." Let us see, 
then, what are the conditions, what the ascertained facts, and 
from them draw our conclusions as logically as we may. 

In primeval days, " when Adam delved and Eve span," no 
one was of gentle, much less of royal birth. But in course of 
time kings arose. They created nobles, who in turn set up 
retainers. Of these some rendered personal attendance upon 
their lords, carrying their shields or armour. To distinguish 
those so honoured from the ruck of the lord's train, they were 
designated by various Latin or Gallic terms descriptive of the 
service they rendered, such as scutifer, armiger, escuier, esquire. 
The original esquire was thus a creation. His younger sons 
shared his honours, but not in the same degree as his heir. By 



34 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

birth they were generosi, gentilshommes, gentlemen. Ostensibly a 
gentleman was "a man well born," but apart from this happy 
accident of birth he could be created by Royal Letters Patent. 
The esquire, on the other hand, ere long ceased to be a crea- 
tion. Like the poet, he must be born, not made. Nor could 
he be "reputed" — save in the case of Justices of the Peace, 
who were of courtesy styled esquire whilst in commission. 
It was with the evolution of the gentleman that repute had 
most to do, and as a consequence new heads constantly sprang 
into view on this social plane. The reputed gentleman, the 
pretentious homo de plebe, became in fact the social Jack-in-the- 
box of mediaeval, as he is of modern times. Under the genial 
sunshine of patronage or prosperity he sprang up spontane- 
ously, and provided his "substance" was sufficient to justify 
his pretensions, few denied, whilst many hastened to concede, 
the rank he aspired to. Next below the gentleman came the 
yeoman. By right of birth he yN2i^ francus or freeman, as dis- 
tinguished from nativus or bondsman born. Amongst those 
who tilled the soil he ranked highest, whilst the title he bore, 
and bore with justifiable pride, was universally reckoned an 
honourable addition to his name. 

In the first of the above categories may be placed Robert 
Lincoln of Hellington, sometime contemporary and near 
neighbour of our Richard of Hingham. In his day he was 
commonly styled esquire — doubtless for good ancestral rea- 
sons. He died in the year 1 609, and soon afterwards his widow 
Joan became the wife of Sir Anthony Gawdy, knight. What 
relationship, if any, subsisted between this branch of the Lin- 
coln family and that domiciled at Hingham, remains an open 
question ; for in spite of much painstaking research the most 
that can be said is, that a variety of circumstances seem to point 
to a kinship of rank, if not of blood, between the two families. 

The first Robert of Hingham, he who died in the year 1 543, 



SOCIAL STATUS OF THE LINCOLNS 35 

like his son and namesake who followed him to the grave in 
1556, carefully refrained, when making his will, from append- 
ing to his name any appellation indicative of social rank. The 
circumstance, occurring as it does in so precise a document as 
a last will and testament, is perhaps sufficiently remarkable to 
justify a suspicion, not to say a belief, that the testators, whilst 
living the lives of ostensible yeomen, were fully cognizant of 
their right by descent to higher social distinction. 

Richard Lincoln perhaps cherished a similar knowledge ; 
for though in his will he styled himself yeoman, he never- 
theless left strict injunctions that he should be buried within 
the church of Hingham, thus asserting in death the rank that 
he never, so far as we can ascertain, expressly assumed in life. 
He had married, it is true, not less than three, perhaps four 
gentlewomen in his time ; but it is difficult to believe that the 
injunction as to his place of burial was based on that fact rather 
than on his known lineage. Conversely, it is equally difficult to 
believe that he could have married such a succession of gen- 
tlewomen had he not possessed some well-authenticated title 
to the rank he espoused. 

The social standing of the yeoman who married a gentle- 
woman had long before Richard Lincoln's time been a bone 
of contention between the two classes implicated, and although 
it was generally conceded that the yeoman who thus bettered 
himself became a gentleman by repute, the face of the higher 
class was resolutely set against any admission of his claim as of 
right. He was gentleman only on sufferance. 

An instructive and amusing case, relating to this very point, 
is to be found in the proceedings of that once notorious but 
now long-since obsolete institution, the Court of Star Cham- 
ber.^ Occurring as far back as the thirty-fourth year of King 
Henry the Eighth's reign, — the very year, by the way, in which 
' Star Chamber Proceedings^ Henry VIII, vol. 3 : iii, 112. 



36 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

the first Robert Lincoln of Hingham paid the debt of nature, 
— it originated in a suit brought in the Court of King's Bench 
at Westminster, by a certain Thomas Warner, against one Rich- 
ard Barker of Hoo near East Dereham, in the county of Nor- 
folk. Whether purposely or inadvertently, Barker was described 
in the writ as yeoman. To this he at once took wrathful excep- 
tion. At the time of the issue of the writ, he declared, " he was 
gentilman, and soe ever called, appelled and taken." The pro- 
ceedings against him were accordingly quashed, and the point 
in dispute — Barker's social status — was remitted for trial to 
the Assizes at Norwich. 

Here a fresh complication arose. Of the jurors who were 
sworn " to trye the verytye of the yssue," eight were for allow- 
ing Barker to "pass" for the gentleman he claimed to be, 
whilst the remaining four, being themselves gentlemen all, so 
strenuously opposed this concession that eventually the com- 
placent eight gave way and the whole twelve returned it as 
their unanimous verdict that plaintiff was "yeoman, and no 
gentleman." The difference of opinion coming privily to 
Barker's knowledge, he availed himself of it as a pretext for 
carrying his case to the Court of Star Chamber, alleging that 
the jurors, and more particularly the four gentlemen jurors, 
had rendered a verdict "nothinge regardinge their othe ne 
[«cr] the evydence geven and shewed." The discredited jurors 
thereupon joined issue. Plaintiff, they said, at the former trial 
"dyd gyve in evydence that he must nedes be a gentylman, for 
that he had maryed the syster of Sir Walter Luke, knyght." 
This proof of his status they "lytyll estemed," and that for the 
most pregnant of reasons. As all the world knew, "maryage 
with a gentylwoman could not make any man a gentylman." 
True, the " Heralds at Armes of thys Realme had graunted 
and gyven vnto hym [Barker] armes, that ys to saye, a hunde 
[^o«W] barkynge"; but although such a cognizance "myght 



SOCIAL STATUS OF THE LINCOLNS 37 

perchaunce brynge to remembraunce the name of Barker," 
yet in their humble opinion a dead dog in no wise proved the 
plaintiff to be a live lion. If the Heralds, moreover, had the 
power thus to make him gentleman, why did not they, whilst 
they were about the business, " make hym esquier " ? His claim 
to the one was as good as to the other. A certain well-known 
fact, moreover, was in itself fatal to his pretension. Barker of 
Hoo a gentleman ! Odzooks ! his father " dyd gayne more in 
one yere by hys vnfeyned mystere" or craft than he, this up- 
start Barker, had done " in halfe his lyff by hys vsurpyd name 
of gentylman." For it was matter of common knowledge the 
countryside over, not only that his father "bye all the tyme of 
hys lyff exersysed the mysterye or occupaycon of a turner of 
belles and maker of treen dyshes, ladelles, and pott lyddes," 
but also "that none of hys auncestoures or uncles, brytherne 
or kynsfolkes, albeyett they were ryght honest pore folkes, 
ever enterprysed the name or degree of gentylman," but were 
"contentyd to be taken and reputed of the comon pore sorte." 
In face of which caustic and witty indictment we may well 
believe that Barker forever after ranked as "yeoman, and no 
gentleman." 

No ; as the world went then, and as Barker learned to his 
cost, gentlemen were not to be evolved from such base material 
as went to the making of bells or pot-lids. Nevertheless it was a 
common enough occurrence for gentlemen born, who through 
no fault of their own had come down in the world, or who 
were blessed with large families and small estates, to conde- 
scend in the persons of their sons, and more especially in the 
persons of their younger sons, to crafts of low degree. Nicholas 
Colt of Shimpling, in the county of Norfolk, clerk in holy 
orders, did as much in the year of grace 1 6 1 3. He was parson 
of the parish ; yet he thought it not beneath the dignity of his 
name or office to apprentice his son to the art and mystery of 



38 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

shipbuilding. Many other gentlemen, of similar or better posi- 
tion, shared his opinions and followed in his footsteps. Hence 
the fact that both Thomas and Samuel Lincoln, eldest and 
youngest sons of Edward of Hingham, were in their youth 
apprenticed to the weaving, by no means stamps the father as 
other than a gentleman. To argue in sequence that he could 
boast no origin, that his family ranked as "no class," would 
be to argue wide of the mark. Edward Lincoln, thanks to his 
third stepmother, was poor ; but he must not on that account 
be relegated to the category of those who, in the parlance of 
his and earlier times, are so picturesquely described as " the 
common pore sorte." The absence of riches neither impov- 
erished his blood nor vitiated his birth. It merely prevented 
his maintaining the position both entitled him to. His was 
the lot of the blood-horse broken to the plough. 

His brother Henry, on the contrary, not only assumed 
the rank his birth conferred upon him, but maintained it 
throughout his life. As early as 1633 he is described, in a 
document suitable to be produced as evidence in a court of 
law,' as "Henry Lincoln, gent'* — an appellation which, re- 
curring as it does in numerous other documents relating to 
the man, without doubt correctly defines his recognised social 
position. 

Waiving, therefore, any remoter ancestral claim which the 
Lincolns of Hingham may have had to gentility, it is evident 
that, in the later generations under review at any rate, they 
were ostensible yeomen with a dominant strain of gentle blood 
in their veins. 

' Feet of Fines, Norfolk : M. 8 Car. I. Fine between Francis Neave, Esq., 
pltf., and Henry Lincoln, gent., and Anne Lincoln, widow, defts. 



CHAPTER V 
CARBROOKE AND THE REMCHINGS 

EDWARD LINCOLN of Hingham, it will be re- 
called, was on his mother's side a Remching — a 
name at that time, as now, of exceeding rarity in 
England, being practically unknown except in East Anglia. 
Undoubtedly alien, and probably Flemish in its origin, the 
exact period at which it made its appearance in Eastern Eng- 
land is altogether uncertain. In all likelihood it had been so 
domiciled for some generations before Richard Lincoln led 
Elizabeth Remching to the altar; certainly long enough for 
the family to which she belonged to have acquired both 
wealth and position. The earliest known occurrence of the 
name in English records is nevertheless comparatively modern. 
It is found in the parish register of a small country village, 
lying some four and a half miles to the west of Hingham, 
called Carbrooke. Here, according to that register, Anne, the 
second daughter of Richard Remching, was baptised on the 
23d day of September, 1549. The baptism of Elizabeth, his 
eldest daughter, does not appear. 

The village of Carbrooke is not without its historical as- 
sociations. A Preceptory of Knights Templars was founded 
here by Roger, Earl of Clare, prior to 1 173. In that year he 
died, and his widowed countess, Maud, as an act of piety 
donated the foundation, together with its entire endowment 
of lands and vassals, to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of 
Jerusalem. Thenceforth it was called the Commandery of 
Carbrooke — under which name its memory still survives. 
Closely adjoining it, in those days, there stood a chapel, dedi- 



40 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

cated to St. John the Baptist. Both lay to the south of the 
present church, on the site roughly indicated by the foreground 
of the illustration; and both, like the old Manor House where 
the Remchings lived, have long since totally disappeared. The 
present church of Carbrooke boasts no great antiquity. It dates 
from the early years of the sixth Henry's reign; but in it large 
portions of the older buildings doubtless still withstand the 
ravages of time. In the loft over its north porch some pieces 
of ancient armour are pointed out to the curious — the last 
poor relics of the doughty knights who once held sway in 
Carbrooke. 

It was in this church that the children of Richard and 
Elizabeth Remching were baptised, all except the two eldest 
— Edward, known in his day as Edward Remching, gentle- 
man, and Elizabeth, who afterwards became the first wife of 
Richard Lincoln and gave her brother's name to her second 
son, Edward Lincoln of Hingham, father of the lad who emi- 
grated in 1637. In this church, too, on the 24th of March, 
1567, Richard Remching was buried. His will contains no 
injunction that he should be so interred. The honour was 
conceded him because of his standing in the parish. He was 
Lord of the Manor of Carbrooke and the Commandery there. 

For the ancient Commandery was no longer the headquar- 
ters of a monastic body. Dirge was no longer sung, mass no 
longer said, the bede-roll of the faithful departed no longer 
told in ancient church or chapel. Henry the Eighth had 
changed all that. By a single stroke of the royal pen the 
ancient foundation had been "dissolved" — the hospitallers 
driven forth, unfrocked and beggared, the rich lands confis- 
cated, the opulent revenues diverted to swell the coffers of the 
King. From him it passed — no doubt for a weighty consid- 
eration — to Thomas Southwell of Wood Rising, esquire; and 
he, about the year 1545, demised it, together with all its 



CARBROOKE AND THE REMCHINGS 41 

rights and members, to Richard Remching. The tenure was 
of the nature of leasehold, and on that basis the Remchings, 
father and son, held it for some forty-two years.' 

Richard Remching, Lord of the Manor of Carbrooke, must 
have been cut off in the very prime of life, for his widow Eliza- 
beth survived him twenty-eight years, and of his seven chil- 
dren the only one who could have been of age at the time of 
his death was his eldest son, Edward. This we gather from the 
terms of his will,^ under which each child receives a legacy 
of from twenty to thirty pounds in money — Edward at the 
age of twenty-two, the others at full age or marriage. His 
daughter Elizabeth's was twenty pounds — a sum ample to 
provide handsomely for her "bride-cart," or wedding outfit. 

In addition to the Manor and Com mandery of Carbrooke, 
the lease of which had recently been renewed for a further 
term of years, Richard Remching left an estate comprising at 
least three hundred and forty-four acres of land, an annual 
rent-charge of twenty shillings, and liberty of faldage^ for six 
hundred sheep in Carbrooke and the adjacent parishes.'^ To 
all this property, with certain probable reservations and ex- 
ceptions in favour of his mother and brothers, Edward Rem- 
ching succeeded on coming of age. Soon after that event he 
married, and for the remainder of the Carbrooke lease occu- 
pied the lands and Manor House there, his widowed mother 
residing with him. In 1593, shortly after the Carbrooke lease 
expired, he sold the remaining property and removed to the 
neighbouring town of Thetford, where, dying in the year 

' Chancery Proceedings^ Eliz., P. 8 : 50. Paget and another v. Elizabeth 
Remching, widow. 

^ Consistory Court of Norwich, Reg. 1566-67, folio 278. 

3 A right reserved by the Lord of the Manor to set up folds for his sheep in 
the fields of his tenants. 

4 Feet of Fines, Norfolk : M. 35-36 Eliz. Fine between Thomas May, 
pitf., and Edward Rymshinge, gent., and Elizabeth his wife, defts. 



42 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

1619, he was buried in St. Cuthbert's Church/ As a man of 
acknowledged substance, he had been made one of the trus- 
tees under the marriage settlement of Richard Lincoln, his 
brother-in-law. 

Of Richard Remching, junior, Edward's youngest brother 
but one, we catch a cursory but entertaining glimpse in that 
lively panorama of the ages, the official Proceedings in Chan- 
cery, anno 1593.'' The period, as all the world knows, was one 
of ruffs, and in the preparation of ruffs much ingenuity and 
starch were employed. Queen Elizabeth, with an eye to the 
augmenting of her revenues, granted and sold to Richard 
Young of London, esquire, exclusive "lycence to make or 
bringe into this realme of England, and the dominions of the 
same, all kyndes of starche for the space of seaven yeres." 
This right Young sublet — to one Christopher Abdy of Lon- 
don, grocer, amongst others. Abdy, being short of capital for 
the venture, took to partner one Bowry, who, playing the 
knave, induced Abdy to go bond for him in large sums, and 
then, payment of his obligations falling due, incontinently left 
him to face the music of the courts and the terrors of the 
debtor's prison. Amongst those whom Abdy had good cause 
to remember on this account was Richard Remching. He 
sued upon his bond, to the wretched starchmaker's "vtter 
vndooment." 

In all the Remching gallery no figure appeals more forci- 
bly to the imagination than that of Elizabeth Remching, the 
ancient dame who, surviving her husband by nearly three de- 
cades, on the 14th of April, 1595,^ lay dying in the house of 
her favourite son-in-law, John Kett, at Wymondham. With the 

' His will is in the Consistory Court of Norwich, Reg. 16 19, folio 240. 
' Chancery Proceedings^ Eliz., A. 4 : 60. Abdy v. Bowry and others. 
5 The date of her will, here quoted. Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 
Scott, folio 20. 



CARBROOKE AND THE REMCHINGS 43 

pride of life she is all but done. The "saye gowne with the 
velvet cape," the *'stuffe gowne that came from London,'* 
the "fyne smock late my syster's," the "sylke grogorane kyr- 
tle," the "stammell pettycoate with the redd sylken frynge," 
— brave and costly apparel, in which she was wont, in days 
gone by, to cut so stately a figure withal, — are no more for 
her bedecking. They must now go to others — she, to the 
inevitable grave. Tearfully her children and grandchildren 
gather around her. The scrivener with his inkhorn and ready 
quill is at her bedside, embodying in rapid, formal lines her 
last behests. 

" In the Name of God, Amen ! Firste I comend my soule 
into the hands of God my Maker, and my bodye to be buryed 
in the churche of the towne of Carbrooke, in the grave 
wherein my late husband Richard Remchinge was layed. I 
give to the parishioners of the saide towne of Carbrooke my 
greate Bible, to remayne there in the churche for ever. I give 
and bequethe fortie shillinges to be bestowed in making vpp 
and finishinge a convenient wall and other necessaryes at the 
Springe called Beckett's Well,' beinge at the Abbey Barne 
Yardes, and next the myll in Wymondham. I give . . ." 

With a minuteness of detail and a faithfulness of memory 
marvellous in one so full of years, the ancient dame recalls 
her every earthly possession — her plate and linen, her books 
and apparel, her copper, brass and pewter, her money, debts, 
furniture — bestowing each, with loving foresight, where it 
will best serve for use and " remembraunce." Her son-in-law 
John Kett is to have "the graye nagge he use to ryde on " — 
a habit perhaps contracted when, courting pretty Mary Rem- 
ching at the Manor House in Carbrooke, he found himself 
overtaken by "rafty" Norfolk weather and could not well 

' Now a mere drain-pipe, projecting from a weed-grown bank. 



44 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

return home afoot. That was a dozen years ago, and Mary is 
now the mother of seven daughters, each of whom, over and 
above some special token of their aged grandparent's regard, 
receives "a payre of course sheetes, a Httle prayer booke, and 
twentie shiUinges in monie." And so the long list of benefac- 
tions runs on, — this ancient dame had eighteen grandchil- 
dren, — a gown to this one, a kirtle to that, a goblet parcel- 
gilt to a third, to each and all a silver spoon — until the 
treasures of a lifetime are dispersed and the prescient soul, 
stripped of earthly dross, hovers in departing. "Are all re- 
membered. Master Scrivener?" "All, lady, save — " 

A gesture of dissent, feeble but emphatic, and the husband 
of her dead daughter Elizabeth Lincoln, together with that 
dead daughter's son Edward, is passed over in silence, finding 
no place in her will. Richard Lincoln's repeated matrimonial 
experiments had met with scant approval at the Carbrooke 
Manor House. 

Notwithstanding the explicit directions to that effect con- 
tained in Elizabeth Remching's last will and testament, her 
mortal remains found no resting-place in her husband's grave 
within the church of Carbrooke.' For reasons inscrutable to 
us her wishes were disregarded, and her ashes, committed to 
holy ground at Wymondham, mingled with the ashes of the 
Ketts. 

' So, at least, we are obliged to infer from the fact that her burial is not re- 
corded in the register there. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE KETTS OF WYMONDHAM 

THE Ketts ! What memories of noble but futile am- 
bitions, of clash of battle, of troubled, tragic days, 
does not their name recall ! Strong men, passing 
Wymondham church in the latter end of those days, averted 
their shuddering gaze from the gruesome Monitor dangling 
there upon the belfry, malodorous and horrible. John Kett 
had never seen it — it was before his day. Yet not so remote 
but that he had seen the chains and the ghastly bones in their 
embrace. In his youth they hung there still, and neither he 
nor any of his name w^ould ever forget the text they clanked 
against the lofty stones : " Honour the King ! Honour the 
King ! " By what dire straits of blood and sorrow the admo- 
nition was inculcated upon the Ketts, the people of Wymond- 
ham, and the county at large, we have now to tell. 

The Ketts were undeniably of ancient lineage. As Le Chat 
they found a home in England either with or shortly after 
the coming of the Conqueror. Later they were called Le Cat, 
then indifferently Catt or Kett. In the sixteenth century the 
Ketts of Wymondham bore the additional distinctive name 
of Knight, though to what circumstance they owed the alias 
we do not learn. They were armigerous, bearing, it is said : 
Or, on. a f esse between three leopards heads erased and cabossed 
azure, a lion passant argent. The first of the Wymondham 
family of whom we possess any certain lineal knowledge is 
Richard, and him we know only as the father of the first 
John.' From him the line runs down to John Kett who mar- 

' Wymondham Manor Rolls, Public Record Office, from which, and the 
Kett wills, the subjoined pedigree, and that to be found in the Appendix, are 
now for the first time deduced. 



46 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

ried Mary Remching, youngest sister of Elizabeth (Rem- 
ching) Lincoln, in this fashion : — 

Richard Kett alias Knight 



John Kett alias Knight, 
died 1 5 12 



Thomas Kett alias Knight, 
butcher, died 1535 



William Kett alias Knight, 
mercer, died 1549 



Robert Kett alias Knight, 
tanner, died 1549 



Thomas Kett alias Knight, 
died 1553 



Francis Kett alias Knight, 

clerk in holy orders, died 

1589' 



James Kett alias Knight, 
died before 1578 



John Kett alias Knight, 

gent., married Mary, 

daughter of Richard 

Remching 



The rise to affluence of the Ketts of Wymondham is as 
remarkable as their temporary fall was sudden and appalling. 
So far as can be ascertained, neither Richard nor John Kett 
was a man of exceptional wealth. It was with the coming 
of Thomas the butcher that the tide of prosperity turned. 

The people of the time were exceptionally gross livers. 
Flesh meat formed an essentially large part of their limited 
diet. To this rule the great abbey on the hill overlooking 
Wymondham was no exception. The monks, it is true, en- 
joyed an annual rent, in kind, of two thousand eels from the 

' As a matter of fact, he was burned at the stake, in the ditch of Norwich 
Castle, on the 14th of January, 1589, "for denying the deytye of Christe." 



THE KETTS OF WYMONDHAM 47 

weirs of Hilgay ; but eel-pie was for holy-day consumption 
only. On other days they consumed meat, and consumed it 
as freely as the inmates of cottage or mansion. Thomas Kett, 
the shrewd butcher of Damgate Street, Wymondham, cater- 
ing for these insatiable appetites, found ready favour with friar 
and abbot. Parcel after parcel of the finest monastic lands 
passed into his possession. Outside the abbot's domains, with 
what he drew from the purses of abbot and people, he pur- 
chased other lands. His flocks grew apace. As early as 1520 
the Court Leet sitting at Wymondham found the fields sadly 
overburdened with his sheep. That was " in the time of 
shack " — /. e., in the winter months, when the larger land- 
owners pastured their flocks upon the holdings of the under- 
tenants. So, at the expense of abbot and people, Thomas Kett 
grew rich and influential. He died, and Robert his fourth son 
proved himself no laggard in the path of prosperity. Profit- 
ing by his father's example, industry, and foresight, and com- 
bining in himself the allied lucrative vocations of butcher 
and tanner, he was speedily in a position to add to his share 
of the paternal estates the entire Manor of Gunvills,' com- 
prising five hundred and forty acres of land, ten messuages, 
and an annual rent-charge of one hundred shillings. With 
this acquisition, made in November, 1 548, or about a year be- 
fore Robert Kett's tragic end, the Ketts of Wymondham fell 
into line with the largest landed proprietors of mid-Norfolk. 
With the Ketts there rose into prominence another local 
family, the Flowerdews of Wymondham and Hethersett. 
Blood for blood, there was little to choose between them ; 
but the Ketts had drifted into trade, whilst the Flowerdews, 
keeping themselves unspotted from the world of commerce, 
had obtained commissions in various capacities under the 

' Feet of Fines, Norfolk : M. 2 Ed. 6. Fine between Robert Kett, pltf., and 
Richard Gunvyle, gent., deft. 



48 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

Crown. From this eminence they looked down upon the 
Ketts as social inferiors. A tacit rivalry was thus created, 
highly charged with the elements of danger. On the one side 
contemptuous arrogance, on the other hot resentment, made 
for open hostility. The situation did not long hang fire. 

The spark destined to ignite the tinder-like relations sub- 
sisting between the two rival houses, and to set all Norfolk 
in a blaze, was supplied by the growing unrest of the people. 
For they too had their resentments — resentments that ate 
like a canker into the very heart of the commonweal. The 
great monastic houses stood empty and forsaken; the em- 
ployment and trade represented by their upkeep were lost ; 
the lands of prior and abbot, the poor man's readiest helpers 
and kindliest landlords, were in the grasp of royal favourites, 
bent, all too often, on extracting the uttermost farthing from 
their newly acquired possessions. Rents had risen ominously, 
while the margin of subsistence enjoyed by the common peo- 
ple, if so narrow a margin could be said to be enjoyed, had 
in consequence contracted almost to vanishing point. Last but 
not least, the very grazing rights reserved from of old for the 
cattle of the poor were threatened with summary extinction ; 
for the rich, encroaching boldly upon the common lands of 
a thousand parishes, consumed all pasturage with their locust- 
like flocks. Widespread distress prevailed, and nowhere more 
acutely than in the neighbourhood of the deserted monastic 
establishments. To these the people had long been accustomed 
to look for relief. For the first time within the memory of 
man they now looked in vain. 

Such, in the main, were the grievances cherished by the 
people at large. Rankling in the breasts of the people of 
Wymondham was a private grievance of their own. As part of 
the late dissolved abbey, their church — the beloved church 
of their fathers — was to be wantonly destroyed. Oh ! the pity. 



THE KETTS OF WYMONDHAM 49 

the pathos of it ! In all haste they petitioned the King, pray- 
ing that of the royal clemency the sacred edifice might be 
spared; or, if so much could not be conceded, that at least 
the bells, lead, and other materials might be granted them as 
materials with which to build anew. The petition, promoted 
mainly by the Ketts, proved not altogether abortive. The pro- 
posed demolition was countermanded ; but John Flowerdew, 
Sergeant-at-Law, by dint of influence in high quarters obtained 
leave to pull down the choir and to appropriate the leaden roof 
to his own use.' 

As between the arrogant rich, represented by the Flower- 
dews, and an oppressed and indignant people, represented by 
the Ketts, matters were now ripe for mischief. The first mut- 
terings of the coming storm were heard on the 6th of July, 
1 549, although few foresaw the awful nature of the tempest 
that was so soon to burst upon the startled country. 

On that day the annual fair was held at Wymondham, and 
the country folk, emboldened by their own numbers, and 
encouraged and incited by rumours of the success that had 
attended similar demonstrations in other counties, proceeded 
to carry into effect a long-cherished project. This was none 
other than the wholesale destruction of the hedges, ditches, 
and fences with which such men as Flowerdew had enclosed 
the neighbouring waste lands and commons, to their own 
aggrandizement and the grievous detriment of their poorer 
neighbours. 

Amongst the first of such enclosures to be laid open that 

day, by the country folk who thus took their fairing, was one 

belonging to Flowerdew himself. He, believing the act to 

' As a matter of fact, Flowerdew, owing to the troubles that so quickly fol- 
lowed, never enjoyed any benefit of the lead, although that circumstance did 
not become known until as recently as 1834, when, during the restoration of 
Wymondham church, the plundered metal was found hidden away beneath the 
floor. 



50 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

have been instigated by the Ketts, summoned a number of 
labourers to his aid, distributed money amongst them with 
generous hand, and bade them repay Robert Kett in his own 
coin. They cheerfully complied, and Rett's enclosures, al- 
though not of the nature of common land, were laid open as 
widely as the unlawful enclosures of his neighbour. Stung to 
the quick by the unprovoked insult, and enraged beyond 
measure by so unwarranted an act of violence, Kett next morn- 
ing placed himself at the head of a similar band and retaliated 
upon Flowerdew in kind. 

Had Kett only paused here and allowed the outrage and 
counter-outrage to find their logical sequel in a court of law, 
all would yet have been well. But he had all unwittingly 
aroused a fury he could not withstand. The handful of fol- 
lowers whom he had that morning led through the leafy lanes 
to Hethersett was now become a turbulent mob. "Look 
you! master," cried they, "two months sithence the King, 
God keep his Highness! commanded that all unlawful en- 
closures should be swept away. Have the rich obeyed? Nay! 
By our Lady of Pity ! we, the people whose land they steal 
and whose faces they grind, will ourselves enforce his High- 
ness' commands as they have done in Kent, and Oxenford, and 
Devon, and Willshire, and divers other places within the realm. 
And you, master, shall lead us. We have avenged you upon 
your enemy — 'tis now your turn to do as much for us.*' 

So the clamorous mob — and Kett, yielding to their force- 
ful solicitations, set himself at their head for weal or woe — 
the avowed champion of his country's laws, the would-be. 
liberator of a long-suffering people. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE NORFOLK FURIES 

FROM Hethersett this tide of men, let loose upon the 
land through the medium of a private quarrel, rolled 
on to Norwich, demolishing the obnoxious enclosures 
as it passed, growing in volume, and strength, and lawlessness 
in the name of law, with every mile. Kett was joined by his 
brother William,^ a prosperous mercer of Wymondham and 
a man who, although some years his senior, was greatly his 
inferior in initiative and executive ability. Many of the well- 
to-do farmers cast in their lot with this novel movement ; but 
the gentry for the most part wisely held aloof. 

On the nth of July the mob, now grown to formidable 
proportions, crossed the river at picturesque Cringleford and 
encamped under the walls of Norwich, which they summoned 
to surrender. With contumely they were refused admittance, 
the High Sheriff of Norfolk proclaiming them rebels and 
traitors, and in the King's name commanding them forthwith 
to disperse to their homes under pain of the direst penalties. 
The proclamation was greeted with shouts of derision, and 
the great gathering, angered by the episode, swept round the 
walls of the terrified city and encamped on Mousehold Heath. 

In the meantime Kett had been devoting many hours to 

thought — and dreams. In those hours there came to him — 

^ Neville, Russell, and other historians of this terrible " commotion time," 
state that three brothers Kett were implicated. The statement is clearly an 
exaggeration. All the evidences in the case — the wills, the Wymondham 
Manor Rolls, and the State Papers — go to show conclusively that Robert and 
William Kett alone were concerned in the engineering of the movement. As 
a matter of fact, no third brother was alive at the time. 



52 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

fateful visitant — a vision of dominion before which the paltry 
acres filched by the rich dwindled into insignificance. At his 
feet lay spread a kingdom — one wherein no man was op- 
pressed, no child cried for bread, no law bore unequally or 
unjustly, no king showed himself a partisan. God but give 
him grace, and he would sweep away enclosures of another 
sort than those his ignorant followers were bent on destroy- 
ing. So his ambition, overleaping the modest bounds he had 
at first set it, lured him on. But first he must have this city, 
enthroned on the hills before him. Arms were there in abun- 
dance, and powder, corn, and money. He must have the city. 

Whether for the assaulting of the city or for the repelling 
of such attacks as must in the very nature of things be made 
upon him, he could not have chosen a snot of greater strate- 
gic possibilities. The lofty Heath ov looked all Norwich, 
which lay as it were but a stone's throw beneath its gorse-clad 
heights. From the ancient chapel chosen as his headquarters 
— known to this day as "Kett's Castle" ' — a precipitous hill- 
side fell away to Dussindale, where the Wensum then as now 
flowed sinuously between the hill and the city wall — on this 
side low, out of repair, distant from the city's centre and diffi- 
cult of defence. Behind him, for supplies, lay the fattest lands 
in Norfolk. 

On this spot, beneath a spreading oak named by Kett him- 
self "The Oak of Reformation," he set up his court, exercis- 
ing freely all the functions of the power he dreamed of. 
Reinforcements, such as they were, flowed in apace. To hold 
this growing rabble in check, to direct its restless energies 

' The ruins of St. Michael's chapel, otherwise " Kett's Castle," stand on the 
left-hand side as you ascend Gas-Hill to the brow of the Heath, in what is now 
the garden of the manager of the city gas-works. The chapel anciently stood 
in Tombland, within the city, whence it was removed to its present site by 
Herbert de Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, when, founding the monastery and 
the cathedral, he sought to improve the approach on the west. 



li 



THE NORFOLK FURIES 53 

into the channel of his ambitions, was a task more than suf- 
ficient even for one of Kett's calibre. Supplies were plentiful, 
and his lawless followers, waxing fat and unruly, ravaged the 
countryside for miles around, indulging in wholesale plunder, 
sacking mansions, haling before their chief all who resisted 
their exactions. To cool their misdirected ardour, and at the 
same time to further his own projects, Kett resolved to attack 
the city without delay. His resolution was both confirmed 
and quickened by the arrival on the scene of the Marquis 
of Northampton,' a general, according to repute, "better 
acquainted with the witty than the warlike side of Pallas," 
"more skilled in leading a measure than a march." At his 
back the Marquis had about 2500 men; Kett, 20,000. 

The first intimation the startled watchers upon the ram- 
parts had of Kett's design was supplied by the emergence from 
the river of a dripping band who hurled themselves with irre- 
sistible fury upon the defences, where these were weakest. 
The defenders fled, and the invaders, throwing open the por- 
tals of Bishop's Gate, admitted their comrades-in-arms. The 
mayor of Norwich was at that time a loyal worthy named 
Codd. "To-morrow," cried the jubilant rebels, who bore him 
no love, "we shall see a Codd's head sold for a penny! " The 
gibe was premature. On the morrow rebels' heads were to be 
worth less money. For on arriving at St. Martin's Plain, below 
the Bishop's palace and opposite the Cow Tower, the invaders 
came all unexpectedly face to face with the trained bands of 
the Marquis. 

A desperate conflict ensued. Of the rebels, even those who 
were thrust through, or whose hamstrings were cut asunder 

' The brother of Queen Catherine Parr. He was called by the young King 
his "honest uncle" (Baker's Northamptonshire^ ii, p. 60). His widow, a 
Swedish gentlewoman, married in 1580 to Sir Thomas Gorges of Wilts., kins- 
man of the Sir Ferdinando Gorges so well known in connection with his ill- 
fated colony of Gorgeana, now York, Maine. 



54 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

by the keen, incessant blades of the city's defenders, are said 
to have fought till their dying hands could no longer grasp 
a weapon. Foremost in the bloody fray, "offering himself 
manfully" for King and country, rode Lord Sheffield, "a 
noble gentleman and of good service." From nine o'clock in 
the morning until noon of the same day — Lammas Day, 
being the ist of August — the battle raged with varying for- 
tunes. Then an accident turned the scale. Sheffield's horse, 
planting his foot in a hole, threw his rider heavily, and ere 
the latter could recover himself a herculean butcher, Faulke 
by name, rushed upon him and dashed out his brains with a 
club. Until quite recent years a great S, set in the roadway 
with cobblestones, marked the spot where this valiant soldier 
fell.' 

With the fall of Sheffield, Kett, who had comported him- 
self no less bravely than his antagonist in that sanguinary 
struggle, was left undisputed master of the city. Master of the 
city, though not of his own undisciplined hordes. For one 
awful day Norwich was given over to the uncontrollable pas- 
sions of the mob, who, intoxicated by dearly bought victory 
and the contents of many a well-lined cellar, sacked, plun- 
dered, and burned with mad impunity. 

Old Neville, the none too impartial historian of those 
terrible days, writing in the year i ^y^, not inaptly styles them 
"The Norfolk Furies," and expressly declares that but for 
an opportune fall of rain, of unexampled heaviness, they 
must have reduced the entire city to ashes. The providential 
downpour quenched more than the incendiary fires. It drove 
the rebels to shelter and "cast a bridle upon their rage." 
Codd retained his head, and Northampton, slipping away 

' Let into the wall of an adjoining inn called the " Cupid and Bow " is an 
inscribed tablet which reads : " Near this place was killed Lord Sheffield in 
Kett's Rebellion, i August, 1549." The tablet is modern. 



THE NORFOLK FURIES 55 

under cover of the tempest, a drenched and pathetic figure, 
carried his to London. 

In the very flush of victory Kett found himself confronted 
by a serious dilemma. Rumour had it that the Earl of War- 
vs^ick, a man the living antithesis of that court ornament on 
horseback, Northampton, had been chosen to lead a powerful 
army against him. This city that he held in his grasp was one 
"of parchment walls." Could he hope to defend so great 
an area, encompassed only by such walls, against troops sea- 
soned by months of activity in other fields?' A thousandfold 
easier, wiser, to defend the camp at Mousehold. With Kett, 
to resolve was to do. To Mousehold, after levying generous 
tribute on the city, he accordingly retired, carrying with him 
all the great guns and ammunition. He would need them. 
The Earl, it was confidently reported, had with him fifteen 
thousand men.^ 

For the present there was nothing to fear. The march of 
Warwick's men was no such "Nine Dales Wonder" as the feat 
performed fifty years later by Thomas Kemp, one of Shake- 
speare's comedians, who came dancing the morris-dance from 
London to Norwich in nine days' time. For the present there 
was nothing to fear — but much to be done. Strenuously Kett 
set himself to prepare for their coming, shrewdly foreseeing 
that for himself and his adherents the issue was this time to 
be one of life or death. 

' They had been employed against rebels in other parts of the country. 

^ Many attempts to mediate between Kett and the King had in the mean- 
time been made — without success. Prominent amongst the intermediaries was 
Dr. Matthew Parker, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury — himself a Nor- 
wich man and the author of A Defence of the Marriage of Priests. He had 
been one of the first of his order to marry, and so beautiful and amiable a 
woman was his wife that Bishop Ridley, confirmed celibate though he was, 
once anxiously enquired, when visiting at the worthy doctor's house in Cam- 
bridge, " whether she had got a sister like her." 



56 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

As for the rabble host, swarming upon its human ant-hill, 
its prevision was less clear than his. A fatal plenty prevailed. 
Ale flowed in rivers ; a fat sheep could be bought for a groat ; 
the parks, the cellars, the poultry-yards of the hated gentry 
invited easy pillage; the camp abandoned itself to unbridled 
licence. Three thousand bullocks, twenty thousand sheep, 
with swans, geese, ducks, and domestic fowls innumerable, 
went, if report say truly, to feed the daily excesses of this 
gluttonous mob. " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow — we 
conquer! " was the boastful cry on every lip. In every mouth 
was heard the doggerel prophecy to which all pinned their 
faith: — 

" The country gnofFes, Hob, Dick, and Hick, 

With clubs and clowted shoon. 
Shall fill the vale of Dussin's dale 

With slaughtered bodies soon." 

And now, late in August, winding through the deserted 
cornfields came Warwick, with his ponderous army, his heavy 
ordnance, his "barrel of halters" in pickle for such poor fools 
of rebels as should be deceived by his specious offers of par- 
don.' Kett, his better judgment overridden by the superstition 
of his infatuated followers, moved down from the heights of 
Mousehold and entrenched himself in fateful Dussindale, there 
to await the victory which Heaven seemed to proffer. Never- 
theless, an evil omen here befell, presaging disaster. Alice 
Kett, his wife, was at this time with him. One day, as they 
descended the hillside from the deserted upper camp, a viper 
sprang from the hollow of a tree and fastened itself upon her 
bosom. For the first time since he had set his hand to war, 
Kett paled before the omen. 

On the 25 th of August Warwick and the nobles with him 
took the ancient pledge of battle, kissing swords for death or 

• So it was commonly reported in the rebel camp. 



THE NORFOLK FURIES 57 

victory. This again augured ill for Kett and the " country 
gnoffes with clowted shoon " who thronged the valley beyond 
the walls. 

Events now marched swiftly. The 27th saw Warwick early 
astir, the rebels in watchful readiness. As the Earl's forces de- 
bouched upon the plain through the gates of St. Martin at 
Oak, Kett drew out to meet them, planting between himself 
and the enemy, in the very forefront of the battle, a living 
barricade of fettered gentlemen prisoners, whom he had re- 
served for this unenviable part in the coming struggle.^ Per- 
ceiving his design, Thomas Drury, one of Warwick's ablest 
adjutants, swung round and took him in flank, pouring into 
his serried ranks a deadly fire from arquebuses. Simultaneously 
the gentlemen prisoners, rending asunder the chain that held 
them in line, drew aside to right and left, and the Lance 
Knights, getting home on Kett's front with their thirsty pikes, 
drove the whole mass of rebels back pell-mell upon their en- 
trenchments. On these, after a brief breathing space, charge 
after charge was delivered. Slowly but surely, as the August 
sun climbed higher over the crimsoned valley, the superior 
discipline and weapons of the royal troops prevailed, until at 
length the Earl's light horse, thus far held in reserve, rode 
furiously into the midst of the now disheartened rebels and 
scattered them like so many frightened sheep. Ere noon that 
day the ancient prophecy was fulfilled, though not as the rebels 
read it. Thirty-five hundred of their own dead lay stark in 
Dussindale. 

Defeated of his hopes, Robert Kett yielded to his fears 
and fled north to Swannington, where, his horse failing him, 

' John Spencer of Norwich, esquire, was one of the unfortunate prisoners 
so " sett in the moste daunger of the battayle." A graphic account of his cap- 
ture by, and his adventures with, that "heyghnous and rancke traytour, Robert 
Kett," may be read by the curious in the Proceedings of what he calls " the 
Sterry Chamber," Edw. 6, i : 74. 



58 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

he sought refuge in a barn, finding concealment and rest be- 
neath a truss of hay. Late that night his pursuers found him 
there, and, by Warwick's order, forthwith haled him to Lon- 
don, where he, together with his brother William, was brought 
to speedy trial. To the indictment, which charged them with 
"divers treasons and felonies," they pleaded not guilty. They 
had taken up arms, they said, not against their liege lord the 
King, but against the tyrant gentry. The plea availed them 
little. Both were sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn and there- 
after to be beheaded, drawn and quartered' — a sentence pre- 
sently varied for a fate still more terrible. 

On the 2 2d of October we find them prisoners in the Tower, 
William, as the older and less deeply implicated, "goinge at 
large " there." This concession meant nothing. In the margin 
of the official list on which their names appear, may be seen, 
written in the quavering, upright hand of the boy-king, Edward 
the Sixth, the fatal word: '•'■'Justice y Yet a short respite, and 
on the 7th of December, 1549, Robert, the arch-rebel, was 
hanged in chains from the battlements of Norwich Castle, 
while William suffered a like fate on the belfry of Wymondham 
church.3 The adder bit deep that day into Alice Rett's bosom. 

Strange to say, the fortunes of the Ketts suffered little 
through the events of those stirring months. Certain lands 
in the tenure of the rebel leaders, Robert and William Rett, 
were as a matter of form escheated to the Ring as Lord of the 
Manor of Wymondham Abbey, of which they were holden; 
but no sooner had the forfeiture been carried into effect than 
the lands were regranted to their heirs'^ — a commendable act 

' Public Record Office, London : Baga de Secretis, Pouch 1 7, Bundle 4, 
where the official record of the trial, hitherto overlooked, may be seen. 

' State Papers Domestic, Ed. 6, vol. 9 : 48 : "A Report of the Prysoners 
beinge in the Tower the xxij of October" (1549). 

3 Wymondham Manor Rolls, 5 Ed. 6. 

* Wymondham Manor Rolls. 



THE NORFOLK FURIES 59 

of grace. John Kett of Wymondham, grandson of Robert the 
rebel and grandnephew of William, was thus in a position to 
marry a daughter of Richard Remching, Lord of the Manor 
of Carbrooke — an alliance that brought him into close rela- 
tionship with the Lincolns of Hingham, since Mary his wife 
was own sister to Elizabeth Lincoln, first wife of Richard 
and grandmother of Samuel the emigrant. 

The prestige of the family, singularly enough, suffered still 
less. No lasting stigma appears to have attached to it because 
two of its members had had the misfortune to run foul of the 
common hangman. The reason is perhaps not far to seek. The 
people, the ultimate judges of the unhappy brothers, deemed 
them guilty of no crime; or, at the worst, only of justifiable 
crime against those who sought, unjustifiably, to subvert their 
ancient rights and privileges. They were true patriots, al- 
though unfortunate ones. In the hearts of the people, whose 
cause they espoused, and on whose behalf they died, they lived 
as a type of that noble order of men who, once in genera- 
tions of men, dare lift voice and hand in defiance of might 
that seeks to foist itself upon the weak as right. They were 
martyrs in that most righteous of causes, the commonweal; 
prototypes of lesser martyrs who, before another century of 
years should pass, were to suffer, not death, it is true, but per- 
petual exile from the land of their fathers and of their birth 
for convictions cast in the Kett mould. 

For many years the chains clanked their harsh admonition, 
"Honour the King!" against the lofty stones of Norwich 
Castle and Wymondham belfry. And the people, whilst hon- 
ouring their sovereign perforce, honoured the Ketts for the 
love they bore them. The chains rusted and fell away, but 
the story of those courageous men who suffered death for 
the people's sake became a household tale, retold for many a 
year at every Norfolk fireside. Young Samuel Lincoln, like 



6o THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

his father and grandfather before him, heard it time and 
again in the fifteen years he breathed his native air — heard 
it until in his heart there took root, we may beheve, the seed 
of that hatred of oppression which, centuries later, was to 
bear such noble fruit in his lineal descendant, Abraham Lin- 
coln, the Liberator. 




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PART II 
THE AMERICAN ANCESTRY 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 

SO few of the lay readers for whom this book is particu- 
larly written are familiar with the series of brilliant 
discoveries which have been made during the past half- 
century among the official records in New England, New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, casting light on the 
obscure points and perfecting every link in the chain of evi- 
dence, that it has seemed best to reproduce here, in compact 
and orderly form, all that has been done to this time, and with- 
out a clear knowledge and understanding of which the au- 
thors' discovery of the English Lineage of Samuel Lincoln 
would be meaningless and of no value. 

Samuel Lincoln, sixth son and seventh child of Edward 
Lincoln, gentleman, of Hingham, county Norfolk, Eng- 
land, was baptised there 24 August, 1622.' He was appren- 
ticed to Francis Lawes, a weaver of Norwich,^ probably about 
1633, and accompanied his master and family to New Eng- 
land in 1637 in the "John and Dorethey" of Ipswich or the 
"Rose" of Yarmouth.3 

* He is called eighteen in the shipping list of 1637, and seventy-one at his 
death in 1690, which agree with each other and place his birth at about 16 19. 
The usual time of baptism was, however, at a few days old, and this was pro- 
bably not an exception. 

* Francis Lawes himself had been admitted to the Freedom of the City of 
Norwich 24 November, 16 17 (Freeman's Rolls), as having been apprentice 
to Reg : Hoath. He was resident in the parish of St. Mary Coslany in 1633-34 
(Norwich Rate Book, p. 65) . 

3 "These people went to N. E : with William: Andrewes: of Ipswich 
Mr. of the : 'John : and Dorethey : of Ipswich and with William Andrewes 



64 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

He had been preceded to America by his elder brothers, 
Thomas and Daniel, who had settled at Hingham, Mass., a 
circumstance which probably determined his removal there 
at the end of his apprenticeship, after "living some time at 
Salem." ^ 

Daniel Lincoln died unmarried in 1644, and left his 
brother Samuel his principal legatee. Thomas Lincoln, the 
other brother, although twice married, left no children and, 
at his death in 1675, also bequeathed the greater part of his 
estate to Samuel and his children. 

Samuel Lincoln married Martha , whose surname has 

-r 7? Samuel Lincoln ff\ Martha Lincoln 

not yet been discovered,^ and who died 10 April, 1693. He 
died 26 May, 1690, aged seventy-one years. They had issue 
eleven children, of whom eight survived their parents. Of 
these, however, we will only follow the history of Mordecai 
Lincoln, the fourth son and child, who was born at Hing- 
ham, 14 June, 1657. 

Mordecai Lincoln resided at Hingham until 1700, when 
he erected "a spacious house" at Boundbrook Bridge in 
Scituate, and also the Lincoln Mills in the same place.-^ He 
modestly called himself "blacksmith" in his will, but was a 
large and wealthy proprietor of iron works, grist and sawmills. 
The former occupation, as we shall see, became hereditary 
among his descendants. 

his Sone Mr. of the Rose : of Yarmouth." Caption of Shipping List, 8 April, 
1637; Hotton's Lists, p. 289. 

' Cushing's MS. op. c'lt.^ Lincoln's History of Hingham. 

* The introduction of the name of Mordecai, heretofore unknown in the 
Lincoln family, among the children of Samuel may supply a clue to the identity 
of the wife Martha in the future. It should not be lost sight of by younger 
genealogists. 

3 Deane's History of Scituate., p. 304. 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 65 

He married, first, Sarah Jones, daughter of Abraham and 
Sarah (Whitman) Jones of Hull, Mass., a marriage note- 
worthy for its first introduction of the name of Abraham into 
the Lincoln family, a name afterward to be made so illustrious 
and which, with Mordecai, became characteristic of this 
branch, as, from that time to the present, there has rarely been 
a generation of their descendants without one or both of them. 

Sarah Jones, the first wife, probably died soon after the 
removal to Scituate; and he married, secondly, Mary Gan- 
nett, a widow, who survived him for many years, dying 19 
April, 1745, at the age of seventy-nine. 

Mordecai Lincoln, like his great-grandfather, Richard 
Lincoln of Swanton Morley in England,' died very suddenly, 
"of an apploplexy," 8 November, 1727, in the seventy-first 
year of his age. 

His will, dated 3 May, 1727, was proved 27 March, 1728. 
In it he provides liberally for his widow, Mary, gives to his 
son Mordecai ;^iio in bills of credit, to his son Abraham 
^60 "besides what he hath," to his son Isaac the house he 
then occupied in Hingham (probably the old homestead of 
the father), and to his son Jacob his homestead at Scituate, 
with lands, mills, and other valuables. Makes bequests to the 
eldest children of his sons Mordecai and Abraham, the two 

children of his deceased daughter Elizabeth Cole, the eldest 
child of his daughter Sarah Tower, Deborah Gannett, his 
wife's granddaughter, and Mary Gannett, her daughter. He 
also makes provision for sending three of his grandchildren 
to college, "should they desire a liberal education." His in- 
' See English Ancestry, p. 21. 




66 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

ventory of ^3099 i^s. %d. (a large sum for the period) indi- 
cates the affluence of his condition. 

Of the six children of Mordecai, the two eldest, Mor- 
DECAi and Abraham, removed, probably in the first decade 
of the eighteenth century, to New Jersey, and, later, to Penn- 
sylvania, where we shall follow them. 

Isaac Lincoln, the third son, born 24 October, 1691, re- 
mained in Hingham, married there twice, and left, at his 
death in 1771, a very numerous posterity, his two sons hav- 
ing each presented him with thirteen grandchildren. 

Sarah, the elder daughter, born 29 July, 1694, married 
Daniel Tower of Hingham, and died 7 July, 1 754, aged sixty. 

Elizabeth, the younger daughter, married Ambrose Cole, 
Jr., of Scituate, 29 December, 1720, and, as her gravestone 
testifies, died 14 September, 1724, aged twenty-one. 

Jacob Lincoln, the youngest child and only son by the sec- 
ond marriage, was baptised 23 May, 1708, at Scituate.' He 
married, first, Mary Holbrook, who died 27 November, 1749, 
aged thirty-seven years and ten months. She was buried at 

Cohasset. He married again Susanna . By his first wife 

he had nine children, all but three of whom were baptised at 
Hingham. There is a tradition that he removed to Lancaster, 
Mass., "late in life," and his name disappears from the Hing- 
ham registers after the baptism of his youngest child by his 
first wife, 25 November, 1749; but no trace of him is to be 
found in the Lancaster records. 

Abraham Lincoln, the second son of Mordecai and Sarah 
(Jones) Lincoln of Hingham, Mass., was born there i 3 Janu- 
ary, 1688—89. ^^ removed, with his elder brother Mordecai, 
to Monmouth County, New Jersey, and there, 1 1 February, 

' The Scituate town records have unfortunately perished. This date is 
from the First Church register there. 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 67 

1722, he purchased 240 acres of land in Crosswick, of Safety 
Boyden, and again, three years later, 15 March, 1725, another 
200 acres in the same place, of Abraham Van Horn, These 
lands he sold, 20 February, 1737, to Thomas Williams. 

Like his father and brother, he was an iron founder. He 
afterward removed to Springfield, Chester County (the part 
now in Delaware County), Penn., where he died in 1745. 
His will, dated 1 5 April, was proved 29 April of that year. 

He had wife Rebecca , who was still living in 1735, 

but died before him. 

ABRAHAM and REBECCA ( ) LINCOLN had 

issue seven children. 

I. Abraham Lincoln, who, by wife Anne, had three 
daughters: viz. Rebecca, who married, 7 March, 1763, James 
Carter,' merchant, of Philadelphia, and was still living in 1772, 
but died before 1793; Anne, born 8 August and baptised 23 
September, 1753, at Kingssessing, Penn.; and Hester, who 
died young before 1 772. Abraham died after February, 1 747. 

II. Isaac Lincoln, married at Christ Church, Phila- 
delphia, 30 December, 1746, Mary Shute. He was of the 
Northern Liberties of Philadelphia, and died before 1758. 
He probably left no issue. 

III. Rebecca Lincoln, married at Christ Church, Phila- 
delphia, 19 September, 1750, Joseph Rush"* of Philadelphia 

' Will of James Carter of Abington, gentleman, dated 22 July, proved 15 
August, 1795, names eldest daughter Hester, wife of Roland Parry (Exor.), 
and younger daughter Elizabeth Carter, sister Sarah Ferrill, grandson Carter 
Parry, brother William. Wife not named, and probably deceased. Witnesses: 
James Glen and Thomas Livezey. Recorded Philadelphia, Book X, fo. 313. 

* Son of William and Elizabeth (Hodges) Rush of the well-known Quaker 
family of that name. William, the father, was son of William, the eldest son 
of John Rush, commander of a troop of horse in Cromwell's army, who mar- 
ried at Horton in Oxfordshire, England, Susanna Lucus, 8 June, 1648, be- 
came a convert to Fox in 1660, and came to Pennsylvania in 1683 ^^^^ 
his family. (See Penn. Mag.^ vol. xvii, p. 325 ; Alden's Am. Epitaphs^ vol. i, 
no. 174.) 



68 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

(born 3 January, 1 7 1 9-20, died 20 December, 1 79 8 ), by whom 
she had four children. She died and he married, secondly, 
Elizabeth Hilton, by whom he had ten children. 

IV. Jacob Lincoln, born 1725. Of Kingssessing, Phila- 
delphia County. Scythe-maker. He married in Kingssessing, 
June, 1 747, Anne Rambo (born 1 725, died 8 February, 1 8 1 9), 
by whom he had six children : i. Catarina, 2. John, 3. Re- 
hecca, 4. Moses, 5. Mary, 6. Jacob; all of whom, with the 
exception of Moses, were baptised at Kingssessing. He died 
5 June, 1769, aged forty-four. His descendants are still living 
in Eastern Pennsylvania. 

V. Sarah Lincoln, probably died young. 

VI. John Lincoln, probably born about 1732. Was living, 
and then under fourteen, in 1745, and of Amity, Philadelphia 
County, "single man," in 1759. 

VII. MoRDECAi Lincoln, born about May, 1734, baptised 
at Christ Church, Philadelphia, 3 August, 1735, "aged 15 
months." He was living in 1745, but then absent from Penn- 
sylvania. 

We will now return to the consideration of the elder line 
and the direct ancestry of the President. 

MoRDECAi Lincoln, the eldest son of Mordecai and Sarah 
(Jones) Lincoln, was born at Hingham, Mass., 24 April, 
1 686. He removed to Monmouth County, New Jersey, with 
his brother Abraham, probably in the first decade of the 
eighteenth century, but certainly before 1714.' We find him 
29 February, 1720, being then of Freehold, acquiring by deed 
of Richard Salter^ four hundred acres of land on the Mache- 

' See will of Capt. John Bowne of Middletown, N. J., in account of Bowne 
family in Cognate P'amilies, p. 95. 

^ His father-in-law. These grants probably represent his wife's marriage 
portion. 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 69 

ponix River' in Middlesex County, and six years later, 26 
May, 1726, another one hundred acres from the same Rich- 
' ard Salter ; but he was then resident in Coventry, Chester 
County, Penn., where he had entered into a partnership with 
Samuel Nutt ^ in the business of mining and forging iron — a 
business which he had learned from his father. He was in 
fact interested in Coventry as early as 1721, when we find 
him on the earliest tax list of that place. ^ 

This partnership was not a long one, for, 14 December, 
1725, he sold for £s^^ ^^^ one-third interest in all "the 
Mynes and Mineralls, Forges, Buildings, Houses, Lands and 
Improvements" held under articles of agreement with Samuel 
Nutt, to William Branson '^ of Philadelphia, merchant, who 
continued his interest in the business until his death in 1760, 
having previously vested his four daughters and their children 
in the property, from whom it passed, between 1778 and 
1783, to Rutter and Potts of the Warwick Furnace. 

' A small stream which rises near English Town, Monmouth County, passes 
into Middlesex County, running north between Jamesburg and Old Bridge, and 
empties into South River (a branch of the Raritan). Macheponix is an Indian 
word meaning " bad bread," ;'. e. poor land. 

^ Samuel Nutt was from Coventry, county Warwick, England, and came to 
Pennsylvania about 17 14. He bought iron ore lands so early as 1717 in War- 
wick township, and in 1720 in Coventry, and at once began the erection of 
forges there. See History of Chester County^ Pennsylvania^ p. 344 ; Acrelius's 
History of New Sweden. 

J Wrongly entered as Mordecaj Linerwood, hut corrected next year, 1722, 
to Lincoln. 

4 William Branson was the son of Nathaniel Branson of Sonning, county 
Berks, England, shoemaker, who had purchased 1250 acres of land from Wil- 
liam Penn, although he never came to reside in America. He conveyed this 
land by deed, 28 August, 1707, to his son William, who came, early in 1708, 
in the " Golden Lyon" to Pennsylvania. In 1709, he resided in Philadelphia 
on the east side of Second Street, being then called joiner, in 1720 shopkeeper, 
and 1726 merchant. He had acquired, before 1741, over 3400 acres of land 
in Berks and Chester counties. 

5 The celebrated Franklin Stoves, invented by Dr. Benjamin Franklin, were 



70 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

In 1 727 Mordecai Lincoln, with Benjamin Boone and others, 
was appointed viewer of Tulpehocken road from the Schuyl- 
kill River to Oley. He finally removed to Amity in Phila- 
delphia County, where he died in 1736. He is called "Gent." 
in his inventory, so we may infer that the iron industry had 
prospered. 

He married twice: first, before 171 4,' Hannah, daughter 
of Richard and Sarah (Bowne) Salter, of Freehold, N. J., 
by whom he had an only son, John (the ancestor of the 

President), and five daughters; secondly, Mary , whose 

surname is unknown,^ by whom he had three children (one 
of them posthumous), and who, surviving him, became his 
residuary legatee and executrix. She had married again, be- 
fore 17 January, 1742, Roger Rogers,^ as, at that date, she 
gave power of attorney to her stepson-in-law, William Tall- 
man, to sell for her, as executrix, the one hundred acres left 
by her husband to his two younger daughters. This sale was 
consummated i o May, 1 743, to one James Abrahams for ^40, 
and in it she is named as "widow and sole executrix, being 
now the wife of Rodger Rodgers."'^ 

Mordecai Lincoln's will,^ dated 22 February, 1735—36, 
" being then sick," was proved 7 June following. By it he left 

made at the Warwick Furnace by Robert Grace about 1742, to whom Dr. 
Franklin had given the model. See Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 

' See will of Capt.John Bowne in account of Salter and Bowne families. 

" Said to have been Robeson by Miss M.J. Roe of Gilbert, Ohio, on authority 
of MS. of Dr. William H. Egle. 

3 At Gwynned Monthly Meeting, 1/26/ 1745, it was reported that "Roger 
Rogers owns the Discipline established amongst us but acknowledged the way 
too straight for him to walk in," and was therefore disowned, but as this Meet- 
ing did not then have authority over Exeter and Amity, this may not refer to 
the husband of Mary Lincoln, — MSS. Gilbert Cope. 

* Roger Rogers died intestate, and administration was granted to Mary, his 
relict, 22 December, 1758. 

5 Registered Philadelphia, Book E, p. 370. See Appendix. 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 71 

to Mordecai, his eldest son by his second wife, half of his 
land in Amity ; to Thomas, the second son of the same wife, 
the other half, provided that, if the said wife prove with child, 
the estate was to be divided into three equal portions. She did 

so prove, and the posthumous son, Abraham, shared the pro- 
perty with his brothers of the whole blood. John Lincoln, 
the eldest son and the only one by the first wife, received 
three hundred of the four hundred acres of his mother's mar- 
riage portion, the other one hundred being divided between 
the two youngest daughters, Anne and Sarah. His friends and 
neighbours, Jonathan Robeson ' and George Boone,"^ were made 
trustees and his wife Mary sole executrix and tutor to the 
minor children. 

Mary Rogers, the widow, was still living 10 June, 1776, 
when a petition for a sale of property was returned, which was 
confirmed in April, i J J J, and she acted as administratrix of 

■ Jonathan Robeson was third son of Andrew Robeson of Amity township, 
Philadelphia County. Will of Andrew Robeson, dated 1719—20, proved 27 
February, 1719-20 (Registered Philadelphia, Book D,p. 145), mentions lands in 
Roxborrow and Neversink. Jonathan was born at Philadelphia, 1684, member 
Pennsylvania Assembly, 1735, owned and worked several iron furnaces in Berks 
County, removed to New Jersey, 1760, first Judge of Sussex County, and died 
at Upper Dublin, Penn., in 1 766. Andrew, the father, of New Jersey and Sumac 
Park, Philadelphia, was born in Scotland, 1653. One of the Proprietors of West 
New Jersey by deed of William Penn in i676,member of Council of Proprietors 
there, 1688-93, Justice at Gloucester, 1689, and Surveyor General, 1689 ^^^ 
1694. In 1676 was of Clonmel, Ireland, but late of London, merchant. One 
Samuel Robeson in his will, dated 21 September, proved 15 October, 1699, 
names his cousin Andrew Robeson of West Jersey and uncles Thomas and 
David Robeson of Scotland. (SeeJm. Ancestry^ v, 171, and MSS. Gilbert Cope.) 

* The earliest connection shown with the family of the intrepid explorer who 
was afterward to exercise so malign an influence on his posterity. 



72 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

the estate of her second son, Thomas Lincohi, in June, 1775. 
She died in 1783, intestate, and her estate was administered 
25 March of that year by her eldest son, Mordecai Lincoln. 

MORDECAI and HANNAH (SALTER) LINCOLN 
had issue six children. 

I. John Lincoln, born 3 May, 171 1. Of whom hereafter. 

II. Deborah LiNCOLN,born January, 171 7, buriedat Allen- 
town, N. J., 1 5 May, 1720, aged three years and four months.' 
III. Hannah Lincoln had lands on the Macheponix in 
New Jersey by deed of gift from her father before 1735. 
She married Joseph Millard of Amity, Philadelphia County, 
before 15 December, 1742, when he joins her in deed of her 
moiety of her father's gift,"" to William Tallman (vide in- 
fra). She was dead before 1769, when Joseph Millard, then 
called Esquire, was of Union township. ^ They had children : 
I. Mordecai ; 2. Joseph ; 3. James ; and 4. Barbara. 

IV. Mary Lincoln had gift of land jointly with her sister 
Hannah. She married Francis Yarnall'^ of Amity, cord- 
wainer (born 27 September, i7i9),before 10 May, 1743, when 

' Gravestone still remaining at Allentown. 
* Trenton Deeds ; see Appendix. 

3 Quitclaim deed of John Lincoln of Augusta County, Virginia, and the heirs 
of his father, Mordecai Lincoln, deed., to Abraham his half-brother. This deed 
seems never to have been registered ; for reference to it I have to thank Miss 
M. J. Roe of Gilbert, Ohio, a descendant of the Tallmans. See Appendix. 

4 Complaint of his marriage " out of meeting" was made at Exeter Meeting 
8 mo. 7th, 1742, and testimony formally made against him 10 mo. 30th of same 
year (Book A, p. 36). He v/as son of Peter and Alice (Worrilow) Yarnall 
of Goshen, Penn. Peter Yarnall, born 20 October, 1690, married 25 April, 
1 7 15, at Chester, Alice, daughter of John and Ann (Maris) Worrilow of 
Edgmont ; she was disowned 10 March, 1728-29, and he 16 November, 
1730, but certificate for their children to Oley was signed 21 July, 1740. 
Peter was son of Francis and Hannah (Baker) Yarnall, who, with his brother 
Philip, came to Pennsylvania about 1684 from Worcestershire, England, and 
in 171 1 was Representative in Provincial Assembly for Chester County. An- 
other son of Francis and Hannah (Baker) Yarnall, /. e. Joseph Yarnall, mar- 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 73 

he joins with her, and WilHam Tallman and Anne his wife, 
in the sale of the entire tract of one hundred acres of land 
to Samuel Leonard. They were both living and of Reading 
in 1769. 

V. Anne Lincoln, born 8 March, 1 725. Legatee with her 
sister Sarah of one hundred acres of land in New Jersey. She 
married, 20 October, 17 — ,' William Tallman ' of Amity 
(born 25 March, 1720, died 13 February, 1791^), who joins 
with her and her sister Mary in deed of May, 1743. They 
removed to Virginia with the Lincolns about 1768, lived 
on Smith's Run at foot of Massanutten Mountain, Augusta 
(now Rockingham) County, Virginia, in sight of the Lincoln 
homestead. They had eleven children, who all died young 
except a son, Benjamin Tallman of Ohio (born 9 January, 
1745, died 4 June, 1820), who married, 9 November, 1764, 
Dinah Boone'^ (born 10 May, 1749, died 25 July, 1824). 
Anne Lincoln Tallman died 22 December, .5 

ried 22 September, 1748, at Exeter, Elizabeth Boone, probably widow of 
Samuel Boone, uncle of Daniel, who had died 6 August, 1 745, leaving a widow 
of that name. MSS. Gilbert Cope, of West Chester, Penn. ; see also Smith's 
History of Delaware County^ p. 518. 

' Date obliterated in record. 

* Son of Benjamin and Patience (Durfee) Tallman of Warwick, R. I., 
legatee of twenty shillings in will of his father, dated 5 July, 1755, proved 
13 August, 1759. Benjamin Tallman, the father, born 28 January, 1684, 
being son of Peter Tallman of Portsmouth, R. I., by his second wife, Joan 
Briggs of Taunton, Mass., and who was freeman in Newport, 1655, died 1708, 
and administration granted to his son Jonathan, 3 May, 1709. Austin's Gen. 
Diet. R. /., N. E. Reg.^ vol. xli, p. 157, and Tallman Family Bible, transcribed 
by Miss M. J. Roe, ut supra. See also Durfee Genealogy for fuller detail. 

3 The year was obliterated in the record, but is restored by reference, in deed 
recorded in Berks County, Pennsylvania, to his will as proved in Rockingham 
County, Virginia, in that year. 

'' Daughter of Benjamin and Susanna Boone, the uncle of Daniel. See 
account of Boone family in Cognate Families, p. 98. 

s Year obliterated in record — about 1 8 1 2. 



74 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

VI. Sarah Lincoln, born about April, 1727, was a lega- 
tee, with her sister Anne, of one hundred acres of land on the 
Macheponix, which was sold by her brother-in-law, William 
Tallman, 10 May, 1743, under power of attorney from Mary 
Rogers, her stepmother and the executrix of their father's will. 
She married in Quaker Meeting William Boone' (born 18 
November, 1724, died 1771 ), her marriage being reported as 
"orderly" by the Exeter Monthly Meeting, 26 May, 1748. 
She died 2 1 April, i 8 1 o, aged eighty-three years, two months, 
and odd days."* 

MORDECAI and MARY ( ) LINCOLN had three 

children. 

VII. MoRDECAi Lincoln, born 9 May, 1730, legatee of 
lands in Amity by his father's will. He was taxed in Berks 
County in 1752, was Quartermaster in Continental Army, 
and was of Exeter, i o June, 1 776, being named in petition of 
his mother, Mary Rogers (yide infra) ^ on whose estate he after- 
ward administered, 25 March, 1783. He had married in 1755 
Mary Webb, by whom he had issue five children, who all 
settled in the Shenandoah Valley ofVirginia.^ After the Re- 
volution he removed to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where 
he died in 1 8 1 2, aged eighty-two, and was buried at Union- 
town. Children were: i. Benjamin, born 29 November, 
1756; 2. John, born 28 March, 1758; 3. Ann, born 22 
November, 1759, married William Jones; 4. Hannah,'^ born 
31 December, 1761; 5. Sarah, born 25 February, 1767. 

' Son of George and Deborah (Howell) Boone and own cousin of Daniel. 
See Boone family, p. 98. 

^ Exeter Meeting Records. 

3 On the authority of Miss M. J. Roe of Gilbert, Ohio, from Dr. W. H. 
Egle of Reading, Penn. 

* I believe that this child represents the mysterious Hannaniah whom 
we find in Kentucky in May, 1785, assisting Abraham Lincoln and his son 
Josiah in the survey of his farm in Jefferson County. Hannaniah himself had 




o 




THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 75 

VIII. Thomas Lincoln, legatee of lands in Amity by his 
father's will. Taxed at Reading, 1757, and at Exeter, 1759, 
and was of Manheim, Lancaster County, 1769. He was Re- 
presentative for Berks in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, 

1758. He married Elizabeth , by whom he had seven 

children, all minors at his death in 1775, when, his widow 
renouncing, administration was granted to his mother, Mary 
Rogers, 16 June, 1775. Her subsequent petition in Orphans' 
Court recites, i o June, 1 776, that all were minors and seised 
of messuage and lands in Exeter "adjoining lands of Mor- 
decai Lincoln." Children were : i. Hannah;' 2. Thomas; 
3. Michael, went to Buffalo Valley, Lewisburg, Union 
County, Penn. ; 4. Joseph; 5. Sarah; 6. Mary; 7. Elizabeth. 
IX. Abraham Lincoln, posthumous son, born 18 Octo- 
ber, 1736. He was taxed as a single man in 1759. Repre- 
sentative for Berks to the Pennsylvania General Assembly, 
1782-85, to the State Convention, 1787, and to the State 
Constitutional Convention, 1 790. He married, i o July, 1 760, 
Anne Boone (born 3 April, 1737, died 4 April, 1807), 
daughter of James and Mary (Foulke) Boone of Oley."* He 
died at Exeter, 31 March, 1806, aged seventy. Had issue ten 
children: 3 j. Mary, born 15 September, 1761 ; 2. Martha, 
born 25 January, 1763; 3. Mordecai, born January, 1765, 

already, 17 January, 1783, entered 8972^ acres, and 22 April, 1785, there had 
been surveyed for him 1000 acres more (Boone's Survey Book, 25C84, p. 32 
and 26C45). He was said to have afterward joined Boone in his Missouri pur- 
chase in 1 798 (Nicolay and Hay, vol. i, p. 5). But see note following. J. H. L. 

' Dr. H. E. Robinson, late President of the Missouri Historical Society, has 
stated that this HannawzW; was a son, served in the Revolution, and was the Han- 
naniah whom we find with Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky (^Mo. Hist. Review^ 
vol. i, p. 72). He cites no proof, however, and I incline to believe that the identi- 
fication above with the eldest child of Mordecai is the correct one. J. H. L. 

^ Uncle of Daniel Boone, who was son of Squire Boone, elder brother of 
James. See account of the Boone family in Cognate Families, p. 98. 

3 His descendants are still numerous in Pennsylvania. 



76 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

died 1820, and administration granted 23 November to bro- 
thers John and Thomas Lincoln; 4. James, born 5 May, 
1767,' died 1 861; 5. Anne, born 19 April, 1769; 6. Rachel, 
born 24 March, 1771, died 1775 ; 7. Phebe, born 22 January, 
1773; 8. Anne, born 19 October, 1774; 9. Thomas, born 
12 March, 1777, died 1863; 10. John, born 21 October, 
1779, died 1864. 

We will now return to the consideration of the main line 
of the President's ancestry. 

John Lincoln, the eldest son of Mordecai and Hannah 
(Salter) Lincoln, born 3 May, 171 1,"" was called "Virginia 
John" to distinguish him from his first cousin of the same 
name, the son of Abraham and Rebecca Lincoln. In 1748 
he sold the New Jersey lands which had been willed him 
by his father, being then of Caernarvon, Lancaster County, 
Penn., weaver.^ In 1758 he was of Uniontown, but was 
taxed for lands in Exeter the same year and in Amity in 1 759. 
Before August, 1768,^^ he had removed to Virginia, being 
then about fifty-seven years of age, and settled in the fertile 
Shenandoah Valley in Augusta County (the part now in Rock- 
ingham County),5 a few miles north of the present town of 
Harrisonburg, where he was still surviving in August, 1773,^ 

* David J. Lincoln of Birdsboro, Penn., well known as an authority on mat- 
ters pertaining to the Lincoln family, and who died 10 April, 1886, aged 
seventy years, was a son of this James Lincoln. 

* This date on the authority of Miss M. J. Roe, from Dr. W. H. Egle. 

' Deed 8 November, 1748, of 300 acres on Cranberry Brook, Middlesex 
County, N. J., to William Dye for ;^200. Recorded at Trenton. 

4 Deed 16 August, 1768, from heirs of Robert McKay to John Lincoln of 
600 acres on Linvill's Creek, Augusta County, Va., being part of land patented 
to McKay and others in 1739. Recorded at Staunton, Va. ; see Appendix. 

s Rockingham was set off from Augusta in 1777. 

^ Deeds at Staunton as follows : John Lincoln and Rebecca his wife for 210 
acres land, 7 August, 1 773, to Abraham Lincoln for 5 shillings, ditto from same 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 77 

and where he probably died. It was believed by the President, 
upon "a vague tradition," that his great-grandfather, John 
Lincoln, was a Quaker.' It would appear that such was not 
the case, nor, except in sporadic instances, were the family. 



^^ /seal 






£uuc.<r^ /SfAL 




The intimacy and frequent intermarriages with the Boones 
and others who were so, sufficiently accounts for this tradition. 

Children of JOHN and REBECCA ( ') LINCOLN. 

L John Lincoln, lived and died in Rockingham County, 
Virginia. He was a surveyor. Married and left issue. 

II. Thomas Lincoln, removed to Kentucky near Lexing- 
ton and died there. His children removed to Missouri. 

III. Abraham Lincoln, born 16 July, 1739. Of whom 
hereafter. 

IV. Isaac Lincoln, removed to Tennessee and settled on 
the Holston River at Watauga. Married and had issue.^ 

V. Jacob Lincoln, remained in Virginia. Lieutenant in 
Continental Army. He married and had issue: — 

I . Abraham of Linvill's Creek, married Polly Horman and 

to Isaac Lincoln, 215 acres, same consideration, 11 August, deed of lease and 
release from same to Abraham Lincoln, 12 August, and ditto to Isaac Lincoln 
from same on same date. See Appendix. 

• Hon. Solomon Lincoln in A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., October, 1865, vol. 
xix, p.357. 

=" Family tradition has assigned the name of Moore to this wife. The initial 
" R " given her by some writers was only her " mark." See facsimile. 

3 In 1854 Abraham Lincoln corresponded with Jesse Lincoln, son of Isaac, 
then of Tennessee. See letter i April, 1854, in Complete Works., vol. i, p. 177, 
edited by Nicolay and Hay. 



78 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

had three daughters : Amanda, married John Brock ; Eliza- 
beth, married, first. Dr. Maupin and, second, Hon. 

John D. Pennypacker; Rebecca, married Dr. Chap- 
man. 2. Jacob, of Linvill's Creek, married Nancy Line- 
berger and had 'John; David; Jacob B.^ of Nelson County, 

Virginia; Dorcas, married Prense of Page County; and 

perhaps others. 3. David of Lacey's Spring,?' married 

Horman and had Franklin, Jacob, Abraham, and perhaps 
others. 4. Elizabeth, married Joseph Chrisman, who removed 
to Lafayette, Mo. 5. Abigail, married Joseph CofFman of 
Dayton, Va. 6. A daughter who married John Strayer of 

New Market, Va. 7. A daughter who married Evans 

of Page County. 8. A daughter who married Dyer of 

Pendleton County. Jacob Lincoln, the father, served as a 
lieutenant in the Continental Army and died in Rockingham 
County, Virginia. 

Abraham Lincoln, third son of John and Rebecca 
( ) Lincoln, was born in Pennsylvania, 16 July, 1739,^ 

' The descendants of Jacob Lincoln are given on the authority of Mrs. 
Jacob B. Lincoln of Tye River, Nelson County, Virginia, widow of Jacob B. 
and granddaughter of Dr. Maupin and Elizabeth Lincoln, daughter of Abra- 
ham of Linvill's Creek. 

* With whom President Lincoln corresponded in 1848, when a member of 
Congress, on the subject of his family. See letter 2 April, 1848, in Nicolay and 
Hay, Complete Works^ vol. i, p. 117. 

3 The authority for this date, as well as those of the births of the three sons 
of Abraham, is an article on the Lincoln Family which was published in a paper 
entitled The Sunny South^ printed at Atlanta, Ga., in 1888, and the exact dates 
in which bear every appearance of having been taken from some treasured 
family record, and are therefore entitled to some credence in spite of the fact 
that the author wrongly locates the family in Botetourt County, Virginia, over 
100 miles to the south of the actual location, and which county had not, at that 
period, been set off from Augusta. It is, most unfortunately, now impossible 
to identify the writer of this article, for calling attention to which we have 
to thank Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock of Cambridge, Mass., who has done 
so much to aid our labours. 




THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 79 

and accompanied his father to Virginia as a young man. He 
had a grant of 210 acres of land from him, 12 August, 1773, 
on Linvill's Creek in Augusta 
(now Rockinghamj/County. He 
was a captain of Virginia MiHtia ^^-^^^''^^^ 
in the Revolution ^ and seems to 
have been prosperous, but the restless fever of the pioneer 
was in his veins, and, incited by the narratives of his kins- 
man, Daniel Boone, he sold his patrimony in the Shenan- 
doah Valley in 1780, to follow the fortunes of the explorer 
into the wilds of Kentucky. 

Hemarried, first, Mary Shipley,'' daughter of Robert and 
Sy^'J^'^/ Sarah Shipley of Lunenburg County, Virginia, the mother 
of his elder children ; she died in Virginia at some time pre- 
vious to 1779. 

His second wife, Bathsheba Herring,^ daughter of Leon- 
ard Herring of Bridgewater, now in Rockingham County, 



dP^^o/^^ G'^^-^C^-ycG^ 



Virginia, was left behind when Abraham made his first venture 
into the wilderness in 1780. Indeed it seems open to doubt if 
she ever crossed the mountains into Kentucky. 

' His name so appears in a court-martial held at Staunton, 1776 (Husting 
Court Records), which he signs as Abraham Linkhorn. 

^ The first authority for the Shipley connection was Hon. J. L. Nail of 
Missouri, the great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln by his youngest daughter, 
Nancy Lincoln Brumfield. This has since been amply corroborated from both 
family and outside sources. See Shipley genealogy in Cognate Families, p. 
105 ; Nicolay and Hay, vol. i, p. 5, note. 

3 For the first clue to the hitherto unsuspected identity of Bathsheba Her- 
ring I have to thank my valued friend and correspondent, Major George Chris- 
man of Harrisonburg, Va., a venerable and respected citizen of that place and 
himself a sharer in the blood of the Herring family. See Herring genealogy 
in Cognate Families, p. 108. J. H.L. 



8o THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

Until very recently it had been believed that Mary Shipley, 
the first wife, was the mother of all of Abraham's children, but 
the consideration of the following facts will show convincing 
evidence to the contrary. 

Thomas Lincoln, the youngest son and probably youngest 
child of Abraham, was born 20 January, 1780.' The i8th of 
February following Abraham Lincoln and "Bershaba"^ his 
wife deeded 250 acres of land^ to one Michael Shanks for 
^^5000, and this was recorded 17 June following, but without 
the privy examination and renunciation of dower by the wife 
who, with an infant less than one month old, had been unable 
to travel twelve miles over the rough road which separated the 
Lincoln home from the County Court House. Her inability 
seems to have continued, for, nineteen months later, 8 Septem- 
ber, 178 1, a commission was issued for her examination, "she 
being then unable to travel to the County Court," and this 
was executed on the 24th of the same month and returned 
into court the same day.^ 

Meanwhile Abraham Lincoln had gone into Kentucky, 
perhaps not his first journey over the perilous Wilderness 
Road,5 and, 4 March, 1780, paid into the Land Office there 

' Ut supra. Sunny South. 

^ So first written in the deed, afterward Basheba and, in the commission, 
Barbara. She signs as Batsab. See facsimile and full copy of deed in Ap- 
pendix. 

3 Being the 210 acres given him by his father, 12 August, 1773, and 
another tract of 40 acres which had been deeded to him by Tunis Vanpelt, 
Thomas Bryan, and Hatton Muncey. See deed in Appendix. 

4 Publicity was first given to this most valuable document by the late Judge 
John T. Harris of Harrisonburg in Century Magazine^ vol. xxxiii, p. 810 j but 
its full significance seems never to have been appreciated, and the later his- 
torians and biographers of the President have continued to record Mary Shipley 
as his grandmother. See Appendix, p. 187. 

5 See Speed's Wilderness Road^ published by the Filson Club, Louisville, 
Ky., 1900. 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 8i 

^i6o of the ^5000 received for his patrimony, for a warrant 
of 400 acres of land in Jefferson County/ 

Prior to this, however, Boone's Survey Book^ shows an 
entry in July, 1 776, of 1 000 acres of land to " Lincoln " ^ and 
which we may well believe records a "stake" planted for his 
friend and kinsman on one of the explorer's early trips into 
the wilderness. As we have already seen, on Lincoln's arrival 
in Kentucky on what was probably his first scouting trip to 
the new land, he had promptly entered 400 acres on which 
he subsequently settled and erected his cabin ; a few days later, 
7 June, 1780, he took up 800 acres more on the Green River,'^ 
and again (after his return with his family), 1 1 December, 
1782, another 500 ^ acres and, at a subsequent but indetermi- 
nate date, yet another 500,^ one of which last was probably 
identical with the 500-acre tract in Campbell County (near 
the present site of the city of Cincinnati), but which was not 
surveyed until 27 September, 1798, and patented 30 June, 
1 799, long subsequent to his death ^ — in all some 3 200 acres, a 
goodly domain of the finest farming land in the world, which, 
had all prospered, would have placed his descendants among 
the first in wealth and position in their community as the 
wilderness crystallised into an infant state. But, at least for 

* See facsimile from original in possession of Col. Reuben T. Durrett of 
Louisville (Nicolay and Hay, vol. i, p. 8). 

' Now in the Lyman C. Draper MSS. in the Library of the State Hist. Soc. 
of Wisconsin. For full and careful extracts of the Lincoln entries in this valu- 
able record w^e are indebted to Miss Annie A. Nunns, Secretary to Dr. Reuben 
G. Thwaites, Superintendent. 

3 Op. cit. 25C. 36 and 25C. 37: "taken to Richmond . . . Lincoln for 
warrant of 1000 acres," both probably referring to the same tract. 

4 As per authority of Col. Reuben T. Durrett of Louisville, Ky. See in 
Nicolay and Hay, vol. i, p. 11. 

5 Boone's Survey Book, 25C. 38. 
^ Ibid.^ 25C. p. 32. 

7 Nicolay and Hay, loc. cit. note 4. 



82 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

the hapless younger son, the bullet of the savage marauder 
changed everything. 

One morning in the early summer of 1785, going out to 
his daily task in the fields with his two elder sons and the 
child Thomas, Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by an Indian 
from an ambush in the forest. The two young men, aged 
twenty-one and nineteen respectively, fled — the elder to the 
cabin and the younger to the nearest stockade. Fort Hughes, 
leaving the helpless infant of five years to his fate beside his 
father's body. As the savage stooped to lift the terrified child 
from the ground, Mordecai, who had secured his rifle, shot 
the Indian through the heart, and little Thomas, thus re- 
leased, escaped to the cabin, where his brother held the enemy 
at bay until Josiah returned from the fort with assistance, 
and the assailants fled. 

The date of Abraham Lincoln's murder has been variously 
given by historians as "soon after 1780" to 1788 and, by the 
President himself, from the family tradition, as 1 784. A little 
scrutiny will enable us to give a close approximation to the 
truth. The Certificate of the survey of the Jefferson County 
tract of 400 acres, on which he settled and where he met his 
death, dated 7 May, 1785, has been frequently quoted and 
even printed in facsimile,' but seems to have been generally 
misread and misunderstood. This important document shows 
that, at its date, Abraham Lincoln was still alive and acted as 
"marker" to the surveyor's deputy, William Shannon, who 
ran the lines, his second son, Josiah, and one Hannaniah Lin- 
coln^ acting as chainmen. Here we have absolute proof that 

' Nicolay and Hay, vol. i, p. 14. Recorded Louisville, Book B, p. 60. 

* Hannaniah Lincoln seems to have been the third son and fourth child 
of Mordecai Lincoln, half-brother of John Lincoln [Virginia John)^ being 
the eldest child of Mordecai the elder by his second wife Mary, and born 31 
December, 1761 (but called Hannah in the records). This Hannaniah, who 
would have been Abraham's first cousin if this theory be correct, had already 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 83 

he was alive in May, 1785, and the probabiHties all point to 
his death as having taken place soon after.' 

It has been related that the widov^^, after the murder of her 
husband, took refuge among the relatives of the Lincolns, 
who had now begun to settle in the neighbourhood of Beech- 
land in Washington County, some thirty-five miles to the 
south, where the more dense population made safer residence. 
This may be true, but it has already been shown that her health 
was delicate, and the rough journey with a young child over 
the terrible Wilderness Road and the rude life of the frontier 
had probably undermined her vitality, and she must have soon 
succumbed and laid down a cross too heavy for her strength 
and added one more tragedy to the pathetic price paid for the 
conquest of the land her grandson was one day destined to 
rule and save. Certain it is that, from the reHnquishment of 
her dower in September, 1781, she disappears absolutely from 
the records. 

Taking advantage of the old English law of primogeni- 
ture then in force in Kentucky, the two elder brothers ousted 
their infant half-brother from all his rights of inheritance in 
his father's estate, his own mother, Bathsheba, being then 
almost certainly dead, or we may be sure that he would have 
been protected at least to the limit of her own dower rights, 
and the unhappy child was left to the tender mercies of 

entered large tracts of land in Kentucky. See notes under Mordecai,sonof John, 
and Thomas his brother, pp. 74, 75. 

' The writer in the Sunny Souths already cited (p. 78), states, among his 
exact data, that Abraham Lincoln was forty-six years of age at his death, which 
agrees exactly with his birth, 16 July, 1739, as there given. The inventory of 
his estate (there seem to have been no papers of administration), dated 10 
March, 1789, amounted to £62, lbs. bd. of personal property, comprising 
two horses, eight neat cattle, two rifles and a shot gun, farm and house- 
hold implements and, last but not least, the inevitable axe. (See detailed 
list in Tarbell's History^ vol. i, p. 4, from original in possession of Col. R. T. 
Durrett.) 



84 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

strangers in a wilderness swarming with savage beasts and still 
more savage men. 

Children of ABRAHAM and MARY (SHIPLEY) LIN- 
COLN. 

I. MoRDECAi Lincoln, born 1764.^ If this date is cor- 
rect, he would have been twenty-one years of age at his father's 
death, when he avenged him on his savage murderer. By the 
law of primogeniture he succeeded to all of the landed estate, 
and with his brother seems to have sequestered the personal 
property as well. He was a prosperous farmer, a man of mark 
and influence in his day, sheriff of his county,^ and a Repre- 
sentative in the Kentucky Legislature.^ He removed to How- 
ard County, Indiana, and, about 1828, to Hancock County, 
Illinois, where he died in 1830. He was married and left 
three sons: i. Abraham; 2. James; and 3. Mordecai. 

II. JosiAH Lincoln, born 10 July, 1766. He was a farmer 
in good circumstances for the time.'^ He removed to Harri- 
son County, Indiana, where he died in 1836.5 He was married 
and left an only son, Thomas Lincoln, late of Corydon, Har- 
rison County, Ind.^ 

' On the authority of the article in the Sunny South^ already cited. This 
article states that there were three daughters, but the name of the third is not 
given. She probably died young. 

' Tarbell's History^ ed. 1900, p. 5. 

3 So Stated by the late Dr. C. C. Graham of Louisville, a gentleman whose 
authority and veracity are unquestioned. See also Barrett's Life of Lincoln^ p. 6. 
There is no mention of his name, however, in any now existing list of the 
legislators. 

'^ " I knew Mordecai and Josiah Lincoln intimately. They were excellent 
men, plain, moderately educated, candid in their manners and intercourse and 
looked upon as honorable as any men I have heard of." — Letter of Henry 
Pirtle, 17 June, 1865. Cited by Herndon, vol. i, p. 7. 

s His inventory of personal property, amounting to ;^65.oo, is filed (box 49) 
in the Probate Court of the county for that year. No other papers relating to 
the estate exist. 

^ A grandson of the name of Mordecai Lincoln is now (1908) resident in 




V r/7- ./o 



THE AMERICAN PEDIGREE 85 

III. Mary Lincoln, married Ralph Crume or Krume of 
Kentucky.^ 

IV. Nancy Lincoln, married William Brumfield of 
Kentucky. 

Child of ABRAHAM and BATHSHEBA (HERRING) 
LINCOLN. 

V. Thomas Lincoln, born in Rockingham County, Vir- 
ginia, 20 January, 1780. He married, 12 June, 1806, at 
Beechland, Ky., Nancy Hanks, 

daughter of Joseph and Nancy cfjv^^or^'^zz^-^:^^^^ 
(Shipley) Hanks (born 5 February, 
1784), at the house of her aunt L^ucy^ (Shipley), wife of 
Richard Berry, her guardian, who became surety on the 
marriage bond, taken out two days earlier. 

After two removals in Kentucky the family emigrated to 
Gentryville, Spencer County, Ind., where he entered a quarter 
section of land, 1 8 October, 1 8 1 7, and where his wife died 5 
October, 1818.^ 

He married, secondly, 2 December, 1 8 1 9, at Elizabeth- 
town, Ky., Sarah, widow of Daniel Johnston,^ of that place, 
deceased, and she, surviving him, died 10 April, 1869, at a 
farm near Charleston, 111., which had been given her by the 
President. There was no issue of this marriage. 

Milltown, Spencer township, Harrison County. IJt asserti Amos Lemmon of 
Corydon, Ind. 

* Her grandson, Hon. J. L. Nail of Carthage, Mo., frequently referred to in 
these pages, has been one of the best oral authorities for the facts of the pedi- 
gree. 

^ A stone upon her grave bears the following inscription: "Nancy Hanks 
Lincoln, Mother of President Lincoln, Died October 5, 18 18. Age thirty- 
five years. Erected by a friend of her martyred son. 1879." (/.<?. Mr. P. E. 
Studebaker of South Bend, Ind.) A stately monolithic monument has since 
been erected close by. 

3 By whom she had had issue three children, John D., Sarah, and Matilda 
Johnston. 



86 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

From Indiana they removed in March, 1 8 30, to Illinois, and 
settled ten miles from Decatur and, finally, to Coles County, 
where Thomas Lincoln died, 1 7 January, 1851,^ aged seventy- 
three years and eleven days,^ at Goose Neck Prairie, near 
Farmington. 

Children of THOMAS and NANCY (HANKS) LIN- 
COLN. 

I. Nancy Lincoln (called Sarah after 1 8 1 9), born about 
1807, married, August, 1826, Aaron Grigsby of Spencer 
County, Indiana, and died in childbed, 20 May, 1828. 

II. Abraham Lincoln, born 12 February, 1809, at Buf- 



,.^/^^^i^.^C^/^7v/ Q^W:^rt£/ 



falo, Hardin (now La Rue) County, Ky. Sixteenth Presi- 
dent OF THE United States. 

III. Thomas Lincoln, born after 1813, and died when a 
few months old. 

" A monument has been erected to his memory by his grandson, Hon. 
Robert T. Lincoln. 

' l( the record of his birth is correct as given (see p. 80), he would have 
been only seventy years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days old ; if his age 
at death was as stated by his son in the family Bible, it would place his birth 
on 6 January, 1778, a discrepancy of two years and fourteen days. 



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CHAPTER IX 
COGNATE FAMILIES 

IN the tracing of a genealogy too little attention is usually- 
paid to the female lines of ascent, from every one of 
which the inheritor draws, equally with his direct pater- 
nity, those bodily and mental characteristics which distinguish 
him from his fellows. Nothing that contributed to the per- 
sonality of Abraham Lincoln can be neglected with safety 
by the historian, and in the following brief sketches are pre- 
sented what has been ascertained regarding his distaff lines of 
derivation in America. 

JONES 

In the absence of any authentic information regarding the 
surname and parentage of Martha, the wife of Samuel 
Lincoln, the emigrant, we must commence these accounts 
of the cognate lines with the ancestry of Sarah Jones, the 
first wife of Mordecai Lincoln, whose gift of the name 
of Abraham to the Lincoln family, in honour of her father, 
makes her a noteworthy figure in the pedigree. 

This family was represented at Hingham, Mass., by two 
brothers, Robert and Thomas Jones, who came from the 
vicinity of Reading in Berkshire, England, in 1636-38. It 
has not as yet been possible to trace the pedigree in England, 
but it is suggestive that, at Welford, in Berks, about twenty 
miles west of Reading, there occurs a family of Jhones of that 
place, and of London, with whom Abraham was a charac- 
teristic prenomen.' 

' See Visit, Berks, by Ashmole, 1665-66, in Harl. Soc, vol. Ivi, p. 234. 



88 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

Robert Jones was the first of the two brothers to arrive 
in America, being a proprietor at Hingham in 1636. He was 
probably identical with a Robert Joanes who married, at St. 
Mary's, Reading, 13 June, 1625, Elizabeth Soane. He after- 
wards seems to have married a widow of the name of Eliza- 
beth Curtis, formerly of Reading, whose maiden name had 
been Alexander' (who died 25 September, 171 2), and had 
children: i. Robert; 11. Joseph; iii. Sarah, who married 

Belknap ; iv. Benjamin the elder, baptised March, 

1638; V. Ephraim, baptised 29 July, 1649; vi. John, bap- 
tised 17 July, 1652; VII. Elizabeth, baptised August, 1662 ; 
and VIII. Benjamin the younger, baptised 27 October, 1666. 
Robert Jones was a Cornet, and died 17 November, 1691. 
His will, dated 20 April, 1688, names all the children except 
Ephraim, who probably died young. 

Thomas Jones, the brother of Robert, was of Hingham, 
and proprietor there in 1638. He came from Caversham, 
county Oxon. (directly opposite Reading on the east bank of 
the Thames), and may have been identical with the Thomas 
baptised at St. Mary's, Reading, i December, 1599/ although 
his age of thirty-six in the Shipping List of 1638^ would 
have placed his birth in 1602.'^ He had four children born 
in England and under ten years of age at his emigration. His 
first wife, Ann, accompanied him to America, and was prob- 

* His daughters-in-law Elizabeth and Jane Curtis gave him power of attor- 
ney, 4(10) 1 646, to collect legacies from their grandmother, Jane Alexander, late 
of Reading, county Oxon. {sic). See Aspenwall, p. 41. Jane Curtis afterward 
married Thomas Collier of Hull before 21 December, 1649 ('"/*• "'•? P* 24<^)- 

* In this register, which dates from 1558, the names of the parents are 
omitted in all cases before 1600. 

3 Drake's Founders of New England^ p. 59 ; and A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., 
vol. ii, p. 109. In both cases the name of the town of Caversham (written 
Cau'sham) has been misread as Gowsham and Gonsham. 

* These lists, as well as statements and depositions, are, however, notoriously 
incorrect, and to be relied upon only when buttressed with other evidence. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 89 

ably the mother of most, if not all, of his children. He mar- 
ried a second time Elizabeth , who survived him and 

was called "mother-in-law" by his sons Abraham, Thomas, 
and Ephraim. 

In 1 657 he and his son Abraham were proprietors at Hull. 
He afterwards removed to Manchester, of which place he was 
a resident at his death, which took place in 1680 at Hull. 
His inventory, taken in March, 1680-81, is filed at Ipswich. 
His children were : i. Abraham; 11. John; iii. Ephraim; 
IV. Sarah, married to Chamberlain; v. Hannah, mar- 
ried to Coding; vi. Thomas, baptised 29 March, 1640; 

and VII. Mary, baptised 28 May, 1643, at Hingham. 

Abraham Jones, the eldest son of Thomas and Ann Jones, 
was born in England and came with his parents to America 
in the " Confidence" of London, sailing from Southampton 
24 April, 1638. He was a proprietor at Hull in 1657, and 3 
May, 1658, sold lands there, which had been given him by 
his father, to Daniel Cushing.' He resided at Hull during 
his whole life. He married, probably about 1653,^ Sarah 
Whitman (died 11 June, 171 8), eldest child of John Whit- 
man 3 by his wife Ruth of Weymouth, Mass. He died 

1 71 7, his will, dated 8 January, 171 6-1 7, being proved 4 

' Suffolk Deeds^ iv, 129. 

' Said by Sewall to have lived in wedlock sixty-five years. See Farnam's 
Whitman Genealogy. 

3 John Whitman is said to have come from Holt, county Norfolk, before 
1638, when he was freeman, ensign 1645 to 1680, and deacon, and died 
13 November, 1692, aged ninety. His will, dated 9 March, 1685, proved 16 
March, 1692-93, names daughter Sarah Jones. A Zacharia Whitman was 
married at Chesham Bois, Bucks, 10 June, 1630, to Sarah, daughter of Richard 
and Martha (Turner) Biscoe, and came to America with wife Sarah, aged 
twenty-five (she was baptised at Chesham, 9 November, 1606), and child Za- 
charia, two and a half, in the "Truelove" of London, 19 September, 1635 
(see Hutton and Drake). Compare Zacharia Whitman, witness to will of 
Abraham Jones ; see in Appendix. 



90 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

March, 171 7. His children by wife Sarah Whitman were: 
I. Thomas, born about 1656 ; 11. Abraham, born 1659, free- 
man 1680, left issue by wife Nancy;' iii. Joseph, had issue 
by wife Lydia and died 1769; iv. Benjamin, born 1668, 
had issue by wife Elizabeth and died 27 December, 1748, 
aged eighty; v. John of Milford, born 1669, had issue by 
wife Sarah; vi. Josiah, not named in his father's will; 
VII. Ephraim, who married four wives, — Mary Spear, 1708, 
who died 171 3, Mary Adams, 1714, died 1734, Hannah 

Copeland, 1735, and Margaret , and died before April, 

1747;"" and VIII. Sarah, who married before 1686 Mor- 
DECAi Lincoln of Hingham and died before 1708, leaving 
issue four children.^ 

SALTER 

Richard Salter came from England "* and settled in Mon- 
mouth County, New Jersey, about 1687 or earlier.5 It is un- 
certain from what part of the kingdom he was derived, but the 
name is a common one, while the Christian name of Richard 
occurs in Dorset, Hants, Northants, Salop, and probably else- 
where. He was perhaps related to Nicholas Salter, clothworker, 
of London, and his cousin, Edward Salter, both of whom 
were subscribers to the Virginia Company and among the 

' See Hull Registers. 

* Suffolk Wilh^ xxxix, 615. 

3 See Lincoln genealogy, in American Ancestry, pp. 64, 65. 

•» So in records, but in 1679 a Mr. Richard Salter was of St. Georges Parish 
in Barbadoes, owning 217 acres of land, with four white and one hundred 
and twenty negro servants, and in 1685 had part of consignment of the un- 
happy rebels, aftermath of Monmouth's Rebellion, on the " Jamaica Mer- 
chant" (Hotton, pp. 462 and 342) ; but he was still resident in Barbadoes, 2 
August, 1692 (A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg.^ vol. xxxix, p. 144). 

5 See Stillwell's " Salter Family," Allen and Salter Families^ 1883, and Salter 
Genealogy^ 1882. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 91 

incorporators of the Second and Third Charters of the same.' 
Both were leading merchants of London, and both were 
knighted."" This family was from Whitchurch in Dorset.^ 

He and Captain John Bowne (his brother-iix-law) raised 
money to defend the patentee rights before Lord Cornbury/ 
the then Governor of the Province, provoking thereby the 
ill will of the Proprietors, and Bowne, who was a member of 
the House of Representatives, was disciplined and expelled. 

They represented, with the courage of their convictions, 
the rights of the people, and were upheld by them in their 
acts, despite the criminations of the proprietary party. Pro- 
minent in their day and generation, and fearless advocates of 
the rights of the individual, they earned for themselves from 
their enemies the reputation of being most factious and sedi- 

* Brown's Genesis of United States^ vol. ii, pp. 990, 991, and Harl. Soc, 
vol. xvii, p. 223. 

^ Metcalf's Book of Knights^ pp. 169, 178. 

3 Harl. Soc, vol. xvii, p. 223 ; Hutchins's Dorset^ vol. i, p. 347. 

■♦ Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, son and heir of Henry, Earl of Clar- 
endon, and the unworthy grandson and namesake of the first Earl of Claren- 
don, the statesman and historian, was born December, 1661. He was one 
of the earliest of the deserters to the Prince of Orange in the Revolution of 
1688, although he had been showered with favours by James H. He was 
Governor of New York and New Jersey, 1701-08, and " earned a most un- 
enviable reputation, which he appears to have fully deserved, and his character 
and conduct were equally abhorred in both hemispheres." (See Chester's TVest- 
minster Abbey Registers^ p. 308.) He was clandestinely married, lO July, 1688, 
at Totteridge, county Herts, to Catherine, daughter and heir of Henry O'Brian 
(son of Henry, Earl of Thomond in Ireland), by Catherine, suo jure Baroness 
Clifton of Leighton Bromswold, in county Warwick, which Catherine be- 
came, on her mother's death in November, 1702, suo jure Baroness Clifton, 
and died at New York, 11 August, 1706, and was buried at Trinity Church 
there. Lord Cornbury, who became Earl of Clarendon on the death of his 
father, 31 October, 1709, died in obscurity and deeply in debt, 31 March, and 
was buried 5 April, 1723, in the vault of the noble ancestors whom he had dis- 
graced, in Westminster Abbey. (See G. E. C, Complete Peerage^ vol. ii, pp. 277, 
302, vol. vii, pp. 392, 393, and Chester's Westminster Registers^ loc. cit. supra.) 



92 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

tious persons, titles which, in the perspective of history, 
redound to their credit and eternal honour. 

In 1695 Salter was elected a member of the House of 
Deputies and in 1 704 a member of the second Assembly of 
Representatives. He was also Judge and Justice and has given 
him, in the records, the titles of Mr., Esquire, and Captain. 

He married, probably about 1693, Sarah, daughter of Cap- 
tain John Bowne by his wife Lydia Holmes, who was born 
at Gravesend, Long Island, 27 November, 1669, and was still 
living in 1714. The exact date of his death is unknown. 
He was still on the bench as judge in his county in 1724, and 
was probably still living in 1728, when his son was called 
Richard junior. His children by wife Sarah Bowne were: — 
I. John Salter, born about 1695.' Resided in Freehold, 
N. J. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Elisha and Lucy 
(Stout) Lawrence. Died in 1723,^ leaving four daughters, — 
Sarah, Lucy, Lydia, and Elizabeth, all under eighteen. 

II. Thomas Salter, second son, born about 1695, named 
in will of his uncle John Bowne, 1714. Resided at Freehold, 

N. J. He married Rachel , and had children: Hannah, 

Richard, and Deborah. Died 1723.2 

III. Ebenezer Salter was living on Staten Island, 1724 ; and 
in 1733 he removed to Monmouth County, New Jersey. 
Married, before 17 14, Rebecca, daughter of John and Re- 
becca (Throckmorton) Stillwell (Esq.) of Staten Island. She 
was still living in 1757, and resided in the western part of 
Monmouth County. They had children : Manassah, Daniel, 
Alice, Thomas, and Elezar. 

' He was of age before 1716, when his uncle John Bowne's will was 
proved, but under age in 17 14, when it was written. See Bowne family. 

' His will dated 4 May, proved i October, 1723. Recorded Trenton, N. J., 
Book n, p. 254. 

3 His will dated 13 June, 1722, proved 25 April, 1725. Recorded Tren- 
ton, N. J., Book n, p. 248. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 93 

IV. Richard Salter, born about 1698-99, called Junior in 
1728. In 1749 he was proposed for member of the Coun- 
cil, a position which he held until his death. Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, 9 June, 1754. He re- 
sided at Trenton and Allentown and erected a large mansion 
on Black Point near Seabright. He married Hannah, daughter 
of Elisha and Lucy (Stout) Lawrence (born 1696, living 
1763). He died in 1763 ; his will dated 1 1 February of that 
year. Had children Richard, Joseph, John, Lawrence, Elisha, 
Elizabeth, Sarah, Lucy, Catherine (died young), and Susan. 

V. Hannah Salter, only daughter. Married before 1 7 1 4 ' 
MoRDECAi Lincoln. See Lincoln genealogy. 

BOWNE 

William Bowne settled at Salem, Mass., about 1635, and 
was granted forty acres of land at Jefferies' Creek in 1636. 
He and his sons came to Gravesend, Long Island,"" with 
Lady Moody,^ and were among the founders of that place, 
having an allotment there 12 November, 1649. In 1665 he 

^ See will of Capt. John Bowne in Bowne family. 

^ A Thomas Bowne from Matlock, Derbyshire, England (born 1595), of 
Flushing, L. I., before 1656, seems to have been of quite a different family 
from the above. (See Powell's L. I. Genealogies., p. 1 84.) 

3 Deborah Dunch, daughter of Walter Dunch of Avebury, county Wilts, 
by his wife Deborah, daughter of James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham. She 
married, 20 January, 1605-06, Sir Henry Moody of Garsdon, Wilts, Knight 
(1605), Sheriff of Wilts, i6i8-i9,M. P., 1625, 1626, and 1628-29, created 
a Baronet 1 1 March, 1621-22. He died 23 April, 1629, at Garsdon, and Lady 
Moody, being a Puritan and "a wise and anciently religious woman," ac- 
cording to Governor Winthrop, came to New England with her young son. 
Sir Henry Moody, before 1638. After an unfortunate experience at Lynn 
and Salem with the Ecclesiastics (1641), Savages (1643), ^"^ Tempests 
(1646), she removed to Long Island and became one of the patentees of 
Gravesend before 1654. She died before 11 May, 1659, when letters of 
administration were granted to her son (G. E. C, Complete Baronetage., vol. i, 
p. 19 1; Notes and Queries, 7th Ser., vol. v, p. 415; Winthrop's i/zV/^^ry). 



94 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

obtained a patent for a tract of land at Middletown, N. J. He 
died in 1 677, and letters of administration on his estate were 
granted as of William Bowne " heretofore of Gravesend and 
late of Middletown." 

By his wife Ann (whose maiden name has not been 

discovered) he had three sons : i. John, of whom hereafter; 

II. James, of Portland Point, N. J., a Deputy in 1677, and 

III. Andrew of Middletown, N. J., whose will, dated 6 May, 
1706, was proved 20 June, 1708.^ 

John Bowne, eldest son of William and Ann, came to 
Gravesend, L. L, with his father, and was allotted a plantation 
there 20 September, 1647;^ and he also purchased of Sir Henry 
Moody, son and heir of Lady Deborah, his plantation lot, 
number 24, in the same place. He was representative in the 
Hempstead Convention in 1665, but must have very shortly 
after removed to Middletown, N. J., of which he was one of 
the patentees,^ and where he was resident so early as 1667 and 
took the oath of allegiance in 1668. Member of the Pro- 
vincial Assembly of New Jersey in 1680, and Speaker, 1682. 
Justice for Monmouth County, 1683. 

He married about 1663 Lydia Holmes, daughter of Ob a- 

DiAH and Catherine ( ) Holmes,'^ by whom he had issue 

five children, of whom detailed account follows. He died 
in 1684, letters of administration being issued to his widow 
28 May of that year, the bondsmen being his brother Andrew 
Bowne of New York, merchant, andjohn Bowne, the eldest son. 
Children of JOHN and LYDIA (HOLMES) BOWNE were : 

I. John Bowne, born i April, 1664, of Matteawan, Middle- 
town, N. J., merchant, also captain. Member of the Provin- 

' Recorded Monmouth County, i, 209. See N. T. Gen. and Biog. Rec.^ vol. 
iv, p. 24 ; Bergen's Settlers Kings County^ N. T., p. 44. 

* Grant recorded 10 September, 1660. 
• 3 Rann's New "Jersey., vol. i, p. 73. 

4 See Holmes family, p. 97. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 95 

cial Assembly, 1 704, but expelled by the Cornbury camarilla 
for attempting to resist their tyrannical aggressions, as has been 

related under Salter [q. v.). He married Frances (who 

died 1716-17'), but left no issue. His will, dated 14 Sep- 
tember, 1 714, was proved 15 February, 1715-16. Left to 
wife ;^400; to sister, Sarah Salter, all plate, etc.; to 
Gershom Mott, for his children, ^200; to Joseph Dennis, 
Jeremiah White, Thomas and John Salter, Hannah Lin- 
coln and William Hartshorn's three children, each ^250. 
Brothers Obadiah Bowne and Richard Salter, Executors 
and Residuary Legatees.^ 

II. Obadiah Bowne, born 18 July, 1666. Member of the 
Provincial Assembly. Had grant of land at Chingueroras, 
N. J., from his brother John, 1 3 January, 1 7 1 5-1 6. His will, 
dated 19 February, 1725-26, with Codicil, 12 April, 1726, 
proved 25 April, 1726, names sons John (Exor.), Cornelius, 
Obadiah, and Thomas, and daughters Anne, Lydia,and Mary.^ 

III. Deborah Bowne, born 25 January, 1668. 

IV. Sarah Bowne, born 27 November, 1669. Married 
Richard Salter, and was still living in 171 4. See Salter 
family, page 90. 

V. Catherine Bowne, married, before 1697, Gershom 
MoTT'^ (born 1653), of Green Point and Hampstead, L. I., 
gentleman. He removed to Monmouth County, New Jersey, 
before 1685; High Sheriff there, 1697-98; member of Pro- 

' Administration of her estate granted 1 7 February, 1 7 1 6-1 7, to her nephew, 
Thomas Hunlock, of Burlington, N. J., Monmouth Wills, Book A, p. 49. She 
had contested the will of her husband, 1 1 April preceding. 

" Monmouth Wills, Book A, pp. 10-27. 

3 Monmouth Wills, Book B, p. i. 

* Sixth son of Adam Mott of county Essex, England, who came to Amer- 
ica before 1644, and was married 28 July, 1647, ^^ Adam Maet to Jenne Hulet 
(Jane Hewlett) from county Bucks, England, at New York Dutch Church. 
She died and he married, secondly, Elizabeth Richbell (Bunker's Long Island 
Genealogies^ p. 252 ; A^. T. Gen. and Biog. Rec.y vol. xxv, p. 49). 



96 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

vincial Assembly, 1707, 171 o, and 171 3. He was expelled 
in 1 710 for refusing support to the Cornbury faction and 
re-elected 171 3. His will, dated 15 February, 1730, proved 
30 March, 1733, as of Middletown. 

HOLMES 

Obadiah Holmes was born about 1607 at Preston, Lan- 
cashire, England. He came to Salem, Mass., 1639, when he 
had a grant of land there as one of the " glassmen " who 
were given special privileges to encourage that industry. In 
1646 he removed to Rehoboth, Mass., where he had had 
land assigned him two years previously, and where he was 
made a Freeman, 7 June, 1648. On the 2d October, 1650, 
he was presented by the Grand Jury, with others, for hold- 
ing religious meetings and, the same year, he and eight more 
separated themselves from the Church and were baptised; 
he became pastor of the seceders and removed to New- 
port, R. I., shortly after. In July, 1651, he and two others 
of his congregation visited Lynn, Mass., on religious busi- 
ness, and were there arrested while he was preaching; they 
were sent to Boston, and there on the 3 ist of the same month 
were sentenced to be publicly whipped, which inhuman sen- 
tence was carried out in September following; after which 
he escaped and returned to Newport, becoming the next year 
the pastor of the First Baptist Church, in which office he 
continued until his death, which took place in 1682, and he 
was buried in his own field in what is now the town of 
Middletown, R. I. His will, dated 2 April, 1682, was not 
proved, owing to its not having the requisite number of wit- 
nesses. His wife Catherine, who probably accompanied 
him from England, died shortly after him. Children of 
OBADIAH and CATHERINE ( ) HOLMES were:^ 

' Austin's Gen. Diet. Rhode Island., pp. 1 03- 1 04. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 97 

I. Mary, probably born in England before 1639. Mar- 
ried John Brown, son of Chad and Elizabeth (born 1630, 
died 1706). She died 1690. 

II. Martha, baptised at Salem, 3 May, 1640, died 1682. 

III. Samuel, baptised at Salem, 20 March, 1 642. Married 
Alice Stillwell, daughter of Nicholas and Ann (Van Dyke) 
Stillwell, removed to Gravesend, L. I., and died 1679. Left 
issue. 

IV. Obadiah, baptised at Salem, 9 June, 1 644. Married 
Hannah Cole and removed to Staten Island, and after to 
Cohansey, N. J. Justice, 1689; was one of the organisers 
of the Baptist Church, and for twelve years a Judge of the 
Salem County Court. He died before 10 June, 1723. Left 
issue. 

V. Lydia Holmes, probably born in Rehoboth. Married 
John Bowne. See Bowne family, page 94. 

VI. Jonathan, married Sarah, daughter of Richard and 

Joan ( ) Borden (born May, 1644, died 1705). Of Mid- 

dleton, N. J. ; Deputy, 1668, and Justice, 1672. Returned 
to Newport, R. I., 1684, and Freeman there that year; 
Deputy, 1690-91, 1696, 1698-1702, 1706-07; Speaker, 
1696-98, 1700-03. Died 171 3; will proved 2 November. 
Had issue. 

VII. John, born 1649. He married, first, i December,! 671, 
Frances, daughter of Randall and Frances (Dungan) Holden 
(born 1649, died 1679) ; married, second, 12 October, 1680, 
Mary, widow of William Green and daughter of John and 
Mary (Williams) Sayles (born 1652, died 171 3). Was of 
Newport, R. I. ; Deputy, 1682, 1704-05; Treasurer, 1690- 
1703, 1708-09, and Lieutenant. Died 2 October, 171 2. 
Left issue by both wives. 
VIII. Hopestill. Married Taylor. 



98 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

BOONE 

While the Boone family cannot be classed among the di- 
rect ancestors of the President, yet the close relationship by 
several marriages and the resultant deep influence cast upon 
their destiny by that most noted and picturesque figure of 
our border history, Daniel Boone, seem to entitle them to 
a place among his forebears. 

The earliest light which we obtain upon the history of the 
family is contained in an account "wrote " by John Boone of 
01ey,Penn. (son of George and Mary (Maugridge) Boone 
and the uncle of Daniel), which was transcribed 21 March, 
1788, by James Boone (grandson of George and Mary and 
son of James and Mary (Foulke) Boone, of Oley, born 1 743), 
and upon which the following pedigree is largely based.' 

George Boone, the earliest known member of the fam- 
ily, lived and died in England, leaving a son — 

George Boone, born in or near Exeter, Devonshire. He 
was a blacksmith, married Sarah Uppey, and died at the 
age of sixty years and, his wife at eighty, neither of them 
ever having had, it is related, " an aching bone or decayed 
tooth " ! All dates to this point are unfortunately omitted. 

George Boone, son of George and Sarah (Uppey) Boone, 
was born at Stoak near Exeter, county Devon, in December, 
1666. He was a weaver by trade, and married Mary Mau- 
gridge, daughter of John and Mary (Milton) Maugridge, 
of Bradninch, eight miles from Exeter, who was born in 
1669. They came from Bradninch to Pennsylvania by way 
of Bristol, leaving Bradninch 17 August, and arriving at 
Philadelphia 29 September, 171 7, bringing with them Cer- 
tificate from Collumpton Meeting,^ dated 31 of 10 month 

' Penn. Hist. Mag.^ May, 1897, vol. xxi, p. 112. The original is in the 
Draper MSS. in Wis. Hist. Soc. at Madison, Wis. 
* They having affiliated themselves with the Quakers. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 99 

(October), 171 7, which was presented to Gwynedd Meeting 
in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, with which they iden- 
tified themselves. Three of their children — George, Sarah, 
and Squire — had preceded their parents to Pennsylvania. 
They resided for a short time at Abington and finally re- 
moved to Oley in Philadelphia County, but now known as 
Exeter in county Berks, where they made their final settle- 
ment ; but George Boone had had a warrant for four hundred 
acres of land here so early as 1718.^ He died at Oley 2 Feb- 
ruary, 1740, aged seventy-eight.^ His wife had predeceased 
him at the age of seventy-two, in 1735. The children of 
GEORGE and MARY (MAUGRIDGE) BOONE were: — 
I. George Boone, eldest son, born about 1 690 in Devon- 
shire. He came to Pennsylvania about 171 2, before his par- 
ents ; resided at Abington, Penn., the records of the Monthly 
Meeting of which he transcribed from the original records 
in 1 71 8, but removed to Oley in 1 72 1 . He was trustee under 
thewillof Mordecai Lincoln (dated 22 February, 1735-36), 
being the first connection on record between the two fam- 
ilies. He married, 20 August, 1 7 1 3, Deborah Howell, daugh- 
ter of William and Mary Howell of Cheltenham, (now 3) 
Montgomery County, Penn. (born 28 October, 1691; died 
26 March, 1759). They had issue ten children — 

1 . George, born 3 July, 1 7 1 4 ; died in Exeter, Penn., aged 
twenty-four ; unmarried. 

2. Mary, born 10 April, 1716 ; living 1753. 

3. Hannah, born 20 September, 171 8; married, 1742, 
John Hughes, and died before 1753, leaving two children, 
George and Jane Hughes. 

' Rupp's Hist. Berks County^ p. 231. 

* Sic in record, but compare statement in family paper that he was born 
1666. 

' Since 1745. 



loo THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

4. Deborah, born 18 February, 1720-21 ; married. May, 
1739, Joseph Bennett of Chester County. 

5. Dinah, born 18 December, 1722. 

6. William, born 1 8 November, 1 724 ; married, 26 May, 
1748, Sarah Lincoln (daughter of Mordecai), and re- 
moved in 1769 to Frederick County, Maryland,' where he 
died in 1771,^ and his widow and children returned to Exeter 
30 December, 1 776, where she died 2 1 June, 1 8 1 o, aged eighty- 
three years and over. They had eight children : i . Abigail, 
married, 1767, Adin Pancoast of Mansfield, N.J.; 2. Mor- 
decai; 3. William, probably joined Revolutionary army, 25 
December, 1776; 4. Mary, married, 1777, Isaac Lee of 
Berks County; 5. George, living 1776; 6. Thomas, living 
1 776 ; 7. Jeremiah, removed to Philadelphia, 1 78 1 ; 8. Heze- 
kiah, married, before 1791, Hannah Hughes, daughter of 
George (ut supra). 

7. Josiah, born 6 March, 1726-27; married out of Meet- 
ing about 1750; living 1787. 

8. Jeremiah, born 6 September, 1729; died at Oley, 1787; 
unmarried. 

9. Abigail, born 9 October, 1732; probably died un- 
married. 

10. Hezekiah, born 22 May, 173-; living 1787. 
II. Sarah Boone, eldest daughter, born about 1692 in 
Devonshire; came to Pennsylvania about 171 2 with her 
brothers, George and Squire. She married Jacob Stover of 
Oley, Penn. 

III. Squire Boone, born 25 November, 1696; came to 
Pennsylvania, 171 2. Was of Gwynedd, and married there, 25 
September, 1720, Sarah Morgan, daughter of John Mor- 

' But within the limits of Fairfax Monthly Meeting in Loudoun County, 
Virginia. 

' His will proved 6 December, 1771. 



COGNATE FAMILIES loi 

gan. He removed to Oley, 1 730-3 1 . In 1 736 he was one of 
the appraisers of the estate of Mordecai Lincoln, and in 
1750 removed to Buffalo Lick on the Yadkin River in North 
Carolina.^ Squire and Sarah Boone had issue eleven chil- 
dren — 

1. Sarah, born 1724. 

2. Israel, born 1726; married out of Meeting and dis- 
owned, 1748. 

3. Samuel, born 1728 ; married Sarah Day, and had son 
Samuel, who was taxed at Amity, 1759. 

4. Jonathan, born 1730. 

5. Elizabeth, born 1732. 

6. Daniel Boone, born 22 October, 1734; of whom 
hereafter. 

7. Mary, born 1736. 

8. George, born 1739. 

9. Edward, born 17 14; killed by Indians, 1780. 

10. Squire, born ; died aged seventy-six, having mar- 
ried and had issue. 

11. Hannah, born ; married Pennington. 

IV. Mary Boone, married, 13 September, 1720, John 

Webb. 

V. John Boone, died unmarried at Oley. 
VI. Joseph Boone, taxed at Amity, 1734, for 240 acres. 
VII. Benjamin Boone, born 16 July, 1706.^ He married 
at Abington Meeting, 31 October, 1726,^ Ann Farmer and, 

later, Susanna , who survived him. It is uncertain to 

which of his wives the children belonged, but, 6 August, 

' Now in Davie County. 

^ We are indebted to Miss M. J. Roe of Gilbert, Ohio, for details regarding 
the family of Benjamin. See reference to this lady's valuable assistance in 
preface. 

' Bringing a Certificate from Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, dated 7, 27, 
1726. 



I02 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

1753, the five youngest were baptised at Morlotton Episcopal 
Church, Douglasville, Berks County, Penn., and these were 
probably all the children of Susanna. He died at Exeter, 
Berks County, 14 October, 1762, and his will was proved 27 
of same month. Susanna, his widow, died 5 November, 1784, 
aged seventy-six years. Benjamin Boone had issue six chil- 
dren — 

1. John, eldest son, legatee of five shillings in will of 
father. 

2. Mary, born 1 1 November, 1739, not named in will. 

3. Benjamin, born 13 August, 1741. 

4. James, born 24 March, 1743. 

5. Samuel, born 11 August, 1745. 

6. Dinah, born 10 May, 1749/ married, 9 November, 
1764, Benjamin Tallman, son of William and Ann (Lincoln) 
Tallman'^ (born 9 January, 1745, died 25 July, 1824, in 
Ohio). 

VIIL James Boone, born 7 July, 1709. Of Oley, Penn.; 
married Mary Foulke, eldest daughter of Hugh and Anne 
(Williams) Foulke,^ of Richland, Bucks County, Penn. (form- 
erly of Gwynedd). He died at Oley, i September, 1785. He 
and his brother John were the only surviving members of 
the Boone family who did not remove to Virginia or North 
Carolina. James and Mary (Foulke) Boone had issue twelve 
children — 

I. Ann, born 3 April, 1737; married, 10 July, 1760, 
Abraham Lincoln (born 18 October, 1736), posthumous 
son of MoRDECAi and Mary Lincoln, "out of Meeting," for 

' This date of 1749 seems incredible, as she would have been only fifteen 
years and six months old at her marriage in 1764; but both dates are as in 
records. 

* See Lincoln genealogy, p. 73. 

* See Fulke genealogy in Jenkins's Hist. Gwynedd^ pp. 33, 233. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 103 

which " disorderly " act she was disciplined by Exeter Monthly 
Meeting and made acknowledgment of her error 27 August, 
1 76 1. She died 4 April, 1807, having had issue twelve chil- 
dren.^ 

2. Mary, born 17 January, 1738, married Thomas Lee 
(died 20 October, 1830), son of Samuel and Margaret Lee 
of Oley, 14 May, 1778. She died 19 August, 1823. 

3. Martha, born 1742; married George Hughes (born 
1742), son of John and Hannah (Boone) Hughes, who died 
18 August, 1795. She died 28 May, 1798. 

4. James, born 1743. Mathematician and writer of the 
Boone Genealogy in 1788. 

5. John, born 1745. 

6. Judah, born 10 December, 1746; married, 15 No- 
vember, 1 770, Hannah Lee, daughter of Samuel and Mary 
Lee of Oley. 

7. Joshua, born 1748 ; died an infant. 

8. Dinah, born 1748. 

9. Rachel, born 1751. 

10. Moses, born 23 May, 1751; married, 1779, Sarah 
Griffin. 

11. Hannah, born 1752; died an infant. 

12. Nathaniel, born 1753; died an infant. 

IX. Samuel Boone, youngest child; married, 1735, Eliz- 
abeth . He died 6 August, 1745, and his widow Eliza- 
beth married, 27 September, 1748, Joseph Yarnall, son of 
Francis and Hannah (Baker) Yarnall and uncle of Francis 
Yarnall who had married Mary, daughter of Mordecai 
Lincoln. 

Ill, 6. Daniel Boone, fourth son and sixth child of Squire 
and Sarah (Morgan) Boone, was born at Oley 22 October, 

* See Lincoln genealogy, p. 75. 



I04 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

(8th month), 1734.' Any biographical notice here of this 
intrepid pioneer and explorer may be omitted as supetfluous, 
as his history is that of the conquered wilderness he gave to 
civilisation and his country. He married Rebecca Bryan 
(died 1 8 1 3). Disappointed and embittered by being deprived, 
through legal technicalities, of the lands which he had so 
hardly won from the savages, he removed with his family in 
1795 to Charette in the then wilds of Missouri,^ where he 
died 26 September, 1820, aged 86 years, 11 months, and 4 
days. Daniel and Rebecca (Bryan) Boone had issue nine 
children — 

1. James, born 1757; killed by Indians, 10 October, 1773, 
at Powell's Valley, Ky. 

2. Israel, born 1759; killed by Indians. 

3. Susanna, born 1760. 

4. Jemima, born 1762; married Flanders Calloway. 

5. Lavinia, born 1766. 

6. Rebecca, born 1768. 

7. Daniel Morgan, born 1 769 ; removed to Kansas, 1 8 27. 

8. John Bryan, born 1773. 

9. Nathan, born 1780. 

The foregoing account shows no less than six points of 
intimate contact between the Lincoln and Boone families, 
of which four were intermarriages, and all of them with 
MoRDECAi Lincoln or his descendants. These were: — 

» According to the record in Exeter Monthly Meeting, which is prob- 
ably correct, but differs widely from many authorities which vary from 1731 to 
1735. From this it would appear that the age given on his tombstone is one 
year in excess of the truth, and that he was really twenty-six days less than 
eighty-six years of age instead of nearly eighty-seven as represented. (See 
Miner's Boone Bibliography^ 1901.) 

' At that time a Spanish possession and, until the Jefferson purchase of 
1803, without the territory of the United States. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 105 

1735—6. George Boone, named as trustee in will of Morde- 
cai Lincoln, dated 22 February. 

1736. Squire Boone was appraiser of the estate of Mor- 
decai. 

1748. William Boone, son of George, married Sarah, 
daughter of Mordecai, 26 May. 

1 748. Elizabeth, widow of Samuel Boone, married Joseph 
Yarnall, 27 September, who was uncle of Fran- 
cis Yarnall, who had married Mary, daughter 
of Mordecai. 

1 760. Anne Boone, daughter of James, married Abraham 
Lincoln, posthumous son of Mordecai, 10 July. 

1764. Dinah Boone, daughter of Benjamin, married 
Benjamin Tallman, grandson of Mordecai Lin- 
coln, 9 November. 

SHIPLEY 

Robert Shipley, an Englishman, is said to have come to 
America about the middle of the eighteenth century and to 
have settled in Lunenburg County, Virginia;' and we find 
here a Robert Shipley, 16 September, 1765, purchasing 314 
acres of land in that county. He was probably identical with 
the Robert Shipley who, with wife Sarah,' in 1771, being 
then of Russel parish in the county of Bedford, "" sells 164 
acres there to Daniel Mitchel, Jr., of the same. A Robert 
Shipley, Jr., who purchases lands in Bedford County in 1769, 
and Edward Shipley, who buys land of the same Thomas 
Dougherty at the same date, were probably sons of the elder 
Robert,^ and a later Robert with wife Rachel was probably 
the same as Robert, Jr., the father being then dead. There 

^ On authority of Mrs. C. H. Hitchcock ; see Nancy Hanks^ p. 24. 
^ Set off from Lunenburg in 1753. 
3 See all of these Deeds in Appendix. 



io6 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

were also five daughters, who do not appear in the Virginia 
records/ 

Children of ROBERT and SARAH ( ) SHIPLEY. 

I. Robert Shipley, Jr., occurs as grantee of 262 acres 
of land on the Falling River, Bedford County, from Thomas 
Dougherty, 10 May, 1769, and which land he sold, 14 Au- 
gust, 1772, to Samuel Walker of same and, subsequently, 22 
August, 1777, with wife Rachel, he disposed of 250 acres of 
a tract which, comprising 900 acres on the Phelps Creek, 
had been granted to 

n. Edward Shipley, probably his brother and also son 
of Robert Shipley, Sr., likewise obtained of the said Thomas 
Dougherty at the same date as the grant to his brother and, 
dying without issue, his brother Robert had become his heir- 
at-law. 

III. Mary Shipley, who married Abraham Lincoln of 
Rockingham County, Virginia, before 1763, and died in Vir- 
ginia before 1 779, having had issue four children : i . Mor- 
decai, born 1764; 2. Josiah, born 10 July, 1766; 3. Mary, 
married Ralph Crume or Krume of Elizabethtown, Ky. ; 
and 4. Nancy, married William Brumfield of Kentucky. See 
Lincoln genealogy, pages 78, 79. 

IV. Lucy Shipley married Richard Berry of Rocking- 
ham County, Virginia, who removed to Kentucky about 1789 
and lived at Beechland, near Springfield, Washington County. 
They were the foster parents of the orphaned Nancy Hanks, 
whose legal guardian Richard Berry became, and from whose 
home she was married to Thomas Lincoln, he becoming the 
surety on the marriage bond. It is this Aunt Lucy — Berry, 
noi Hanks — who has been mistaken by the first hasty his- 

' Hon. J. L. Nail, a descendant of Abraham and Mary (Shipley) Lincoln, 
says the Shipleys came to Kentucky in 1780 from the Boone region in North 
Carolina, in letter, 29 September, 1895, to Mrs. C. H. Hitchcock. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 107 

torians' as the mother, Lucy Hanks, and so helped to give 
credence to the foul fable of base birth so industriously fo- 
mented by the enemies of the President. Richard and Lucy 
had issue: i. Frank; 2. Edward (Ned), and perhaps other 
children. 

V. Sarah Shipley married Robert Mitchell,^ who re- 
moved to Kentucky in 1789. On the journey they were 
attacked by Indians; Sarah, the wife, was fatally wounded, 
and their only daughter, Sarah, then a child of eleven years, 
was carried away into captivity. Robert, the father, in an 
attempted pursuit for rescue, was drowned in the Ohio River. 
A son Daniel settled in Washington County, and after the 
Wayne Treaty in 1795 his sister was returned and lived with 
him and her uncle, Richard Berry .^ 

VI. Elizabeth Shipley married Thomas Sparrow.'^ They 
removed, with the rest of the family, to Kentucky and set- 

' E. g. Nicolay and Hay in Cent. Mag.., November, 1886, vol. xxxiii, p. 14. 
These errors have all been clearly pointed out by H. M.Jenkins in Penn. Hist. 
Mag.., vol. xxiv, p. 1 30. 

" A Robert Mitchell, born in Londonderry in Ireland in the late seventeenth 
century, whose family had suffered greatly in the noted siege of that city in 
1690, married Mary Tunis of Edinburgh, came to America and settled at 
Pequea, Lancaster County, Penn. ; they had thirteen children ; removed to 
Bedford County, Virginia, where they grew up and married. Robert, the hus- 
band of Sarah Shipley, was probably a grandson of the emigrant. The youngest 
of these children was Rev. James R. Mitchell (born 29 January, 1747), whose 
granddaughter, Mrs. Walthall, is authority for above in letter, 24 February, 
1895, to Mrs. C. H. Hitchcock. 

' Her son, Squire Mitchell Thompson of Louisville, Ky., it was whose in- 
sistence upon the search of the Washington County records brought to light 
the proofs of the marriage of Thomas and Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln, setting 
at rest forever the slanders regarding the legitimacy of the President's birth. 
These facts are stated on the authority of Mrs. C. S. H. Vawter of Indian- 
apolis, granddaughter of the captive, in letter, 8 October, 1895, to Mrs. C. H. 
Hitchcock. See also Louisville, Ky., Courier yournal., 20 February, 1874. 

* Perhaps from Bedford County, Virginia. A James Wright Sparrow was 
living there in 1784. 



io8 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

tied in Washington County. In 1817 they rejoined Thomas 
and Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln at Gentryville, Ind., where both 
parents succumbed to a fatal malarial epidemic in October, 
1 81 8, having had a daughter, Nancy Sparrow (confused 
with Nancy Hanks by some of the early biographers), who 
married Charles Friend,' brother of Jesse Friend, who mar- 
ried Polly Hanks (daughter of Joseph). See Hanks family, 
page 122. 

Vn. Nancy Shipley married Joseph Hanks of Greenbriar 
County,^ Virginia, and in 1789 they too joined the tide of 
adventurers to Kentucky and united their fortunes with their 
relatives in Washington County. They had issue eight chil- 
dren. See Hanks family, page 119. 

HERRING 

It is a matter of regret that the tardy realisation of the great 
importance of this family, the almost utter lack of co-opera- 
tion of its living members, and the deplorable condition of 
the records of Augusta and Rockingham counties in Virginia, 
have conspired to prevent any but the most brief and unsatis- 
factory sketch where it would have been the writers' desire 
to have compiled an exhaustive and accurate pedigree, strongly 
buttressed with details and dates. As it is, the history has to 
be told almost entirely from the recollections of two members 
of the family of what they in turn had heard from their rela- 
tives who had been old people in their youth.3 • , , P|(lMy 

' Charles and Nancy (Sparrow) Friend were the parents of the irresponsible^ 
and unreliable Dennis Friend, one of the President's youthful associates, who, 
assuming the name of Dennis Hanks, did much to complicate the already dif- 
ficult problem of the Hanks genealogy, which the mendacity of his declining 
years still further confused. 

* Now in West Virginia. GreenbriarCounty was set off from Augusta County, 
as was also Rockingham County, the home of the Lincolns. 

' My special thanks are due to my valued and venerable friend. Major 
George Chrisman of Chrisman Post Office, Rockingham County, Va., for in- 



COGNATE FAMILIES 109 

John Herring, the first of the family in Virginia, is said 
to have run away to sea as a boy, in the earlier half of the 
eighteenth century, and to have drifted to Virginia, where, by 
the influence of relatives in England, he secured a grant from 
King George IP of a large tract of land in the beautiful but 
then savage-infested region of the Shenandoah Valley. 

It has become family tradition that he was a cadet of the 
same stock as the well-known Archbishop of Canterbury of 
this period,^ but this requires further confirmation before being 
put forward as a fact. 

With his family and retainers he took possession of his 
wild feudal domain and built a fort at Heronford,^ where he 
defended himself in many sanguinary encounters with the 
Indians, cultivated his plantations, and reared a large family. 
The names of only four sons have come down to us. All of 
them served in the Revolutionary War under Light Horse 
Harry Lee,'^ who, after the close of hostilities, was a frequent 
visitor at the house, and of whom many anecdotes are told in 
the family which would be out of place in these pages. 

The sons of JOHN HERRING were : — 

I. Bethuel Herring, who married Irven (or Er- 

win) , and had seven children : i . Bethuel, who was still living 

valuable assistance in this quest. He is third cousin of the President, being son 
of George Harrison Chrisman by Martha Herring, daughter of Alexander Her- 
ring, only son of William, who was brother of Leonard Herring, the father of 
Bathsheba, wife of Abraham Lincoln, the grandfather of the President. (See 
p. 79.) J. H. L. 

' King George's reign extended from June, 1727, to October, 1760. 

» Thomas Herring, S. T. P., born about 1691. He had been Dean of 
Rochester, 1732, Bishop of Bangor, 1737, Archbishop of York, 1743, and 
was confirmed Archbishop of Canterbury, 24 November, 1747. He died at 
Croydon in county Surrey, 13 March, 1757, aged sixty-six. 

3 Now still remaining in the possession of Thomas Herring, a descendant. 

4 General Henry Lee of the Continental Army, father of the distinguished 
Confederate commander, General Robert E. Lee. 



no THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

in 1794 and then holding 273 acres of land in Rockingham 
County; 2. John; 3. William; 4. Philander; 5. Edith; 
6. Betsey; 7. Jane. 
II. John Herring, killed in the Revolutionary War. 

III. Leonard Herring married a lady of whom the only 
recollection that remains is that she was a Scotch Presbyte- 
rian. By her he had a family of thirteen children, of whom 
the memory of only one has been preserved. He has been 
said to have " gone West " with his family in 1782.' The one 
child remaining to our knowledge was — 

Bathsheba Herring, born at Bridgewater at the old Her- > n yi 
ring plantation in Rockingham County and, at some time ^h,\ N 
previous to 1779, married Abraham Lincoln, the emigrant^^f\|^^ 
to Kentucky and grandfather of the President. " Her aristo- ^^ 
cratic father looked with scorn on the alliance, and gave his 
daughter the choice of giving up her lover or being disin- 
herited. The high-spirited young woman did not hesitate. 
She married the man she loved and went with him to the 
savage wilds of Kentucky in 1782. . . . Bathsheba Herring 
was a woman of fine intelligence and strong character. She was 
greatly loved and respected by all who knew her."^ She was ^ 
still living and an invalid in Virginia in September, 1781, v^^aK 
and probably accompanied her husband over the Wilderness > 
Road into Kentucky the following year, and not long after r 
succumbed to the hardships of the rude life of the frontier .^ 

IV. William Herring was living and held 516 acres of 

land in 1794."^ He married Stephenson 5 of Highland 

County, and had an only son — 

' The date of this removal suggests a possible confusion with the migration 
of the Lincolns in that year. 

* Letter of Charles Griffin Herring of Harrisonburg, Va., 15 Sept., 1908. 

5 See American Pedigree, p. 79. 

^ Rockingham County Land Book. 

5 A William Herring and Hannah Robertson were married by Benjamin 



I 



COGNATE FAMILIES 



III 



Alexander Herring, who married Margaret Smith/ by 
whom he had issue ten children: viz., i. John; 2. Alex- 
ander; 3. William; 4. Stephenson; 5. Daniel; 6. Eliza; 
7. Rebecca; 8. Margaret Davis ; 9. Ann Harrison; 10. Mar- 
tha, who married George Harrison Chrisman of Edom,=' by 
whom she had issue seven children : viz., i . Herring Chris- 
man, born 1823, now of Mapleton, Iowa, aged eighty-iive ; 
2. Dr. Burke Chrisman;^ 3. William; 4. Joseph; 5. Mar- 
garet Ann ; 6. Martha Gratton ; 7. George Chrisman, born 
1 83 1, now living, of Chrisman Post Office, Rockingham 
County, Va., aged seventy-seven."^ 

Little remains to add. Two fragmentary deeds, apparently 
without date, exist in the ruined files of the Harrisonburg 
County Office, of which one represents a conveyance by Eliza- 
beth, the widow, and her children, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Edith, 
Margaret, and William, heirs-at-law of William Herring, 
of 225 acres of land to Alexander Herring. This land 
had been conveyed to William in 1770. 

The other deed is from a Leonard Herring and wife 
Abigail, in 1800, to some parties omitted, for some un- 
known reason, by our correspondent. This recites that the 

Erwin, 8 January, 1787, but probably another William. This was the only 
Herring marriage found in the Rockingham County records. 

^ Sister of Judge Daniel Smith, who held a record of fifty years on the 
bench, with only one decision reversed by the Superior Court. 

* George H. Chrisman's brother, Joseph Chrisman, married Elizabeth Lin- 
coln, and had one son, John Chrisman ; they removed to Lafayette County, 
Missouri, about 1837. She was daughter of Jacob Lincoln of Lacey's Spring, 
Va., who was brother of Abraham Lincoln, the emigrant to Kentucky. 

5 Dr. Burke Chrisman, about 1883, rnade some investigations in London 
which led him to believe in the tradition of the connection with the Arch- 
bishop, but no steps ever seem to have been taken to verify this. 

"* Our principal informant and authority on the Herring pedigree. The 
exact connection with the President's family may be traced in the above gene- 
alogy. 



112 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

said Leonard was son of Alexander Herring, who had 
died intestate, leaving said Leonard his heir-at-law. The 
88-acre tract conveyed by this was conveyed to him [qucere 
Leonard or his father Alexander?) in 1780; Leonard, the 
son, is recorded on the Rockingham County Land Book as 
holding this 88 acres and another tract of 230 acres in 1794. 
The above seem to show no affiliation with the members 
of the family in the pedigree given, and no doubt represent 
a younger generation of one of the two elder lines. 

HANKS 

While the indefatigable researches of a member of the 
Hanks family ^ have forever silenced by overwhelming and 
cumulative proof the vicious and unclean fabrications and 
slanders which cast doubt on the parentage of the mother of 
the President, it is greatly to be deplored that the ascending 
line of her ancestry, beyond her parents, still remains without 
positive proof. Two theories have been propounded, of which 
both will be given here as worthy of respectful attention, but 
of which neither can be accepted by the writers as demon- 
strated beyond the reasonable doubt caused by lack of com- 
plete proof. In other words, we still lack legal demonstration 
of the paternity of Joseph Hanks, husband of Nancy Shipley 
and father of Nancy Hanks, the mother of the President. 

It seems very probable that the greater part, although not 
all, of the family of the name in America were derived from 
one — 

John Hanks, who was of Plymouth, Mass., in 1632 and in 
the following year, with Manassah Kempton, took the inven- 

' Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock, author of Nancy Hanks^ the Story of 
Abraham Lincoln s A/o/Z'^r, New York, 1900, also preparing a MS. Genealogy 
of the Hanks family, to which and to Mrs. Hitchcock we beg again to tender 
our most cordial thanks for kindly and generous aid rendered in our work in 
both the Lincoln and Hanks names. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 113 

tory of the estate of William Wright,^ deed. His name dis- 
appears from the Plymouth records, and he may have removed 
to Hadley, Mass., and, as John Haw^kes in the records, been 
father of Eliezer and Sarah, the latter of whom married Philip 
Mattoone; other children may have been Edw^ard Hanks 
of Marshfield, servant to Governor Winslow, who lived near 
Carsewell Creek, and Samuel Hanks, whose house is named 
in running the line between Marshfield and Duxbury. 

Benjamin Hanks, born about 1665, appears with wife 
Abigail in Pembroke, Plymouth County, Mass., in 1699 ; is 
said to have come from England in that year, but it seems 
much more plausible that he was a descendant of John 
Hanks of 1633 through Eliezer, Edward, or Samuel. 

His wife Abigail having died, he married a second time, 
22 March, 1727, Mary, widow of William Ripley of 
Bridgewater, then aged forty-nine. He removed about 1727 
to Easton, Mass., and in 1736 back to Plymouth, where 
he purchased the Island of Saguish in Plymouth harbour, 
where he died 9 January, 1755, in his ninetieth year, and his 
widow, Mary, 21 October, 1760, in her eighty-third. 

Children of BENJAMIN and ABIGAIL HANKS 
were : — 

I. Abigail, born 8 June, 1701. 
II. Benjamin, born 16 July, 1702; of whom hereafter. 

III. William, born 1 1 February, 1704 ; of whom hereafter. 

IV. Nathaniel, born 15 April, 1705 ; married Ann , 

and had one son, Abiah, who probably died young. 

V. Anna, born 14 November, 1706; married, 7 January, 
1732, John Norris of Kingston, Mass., and had one daughter. 

* William Wright had come to Plymouth in the "Fortune," 1621. In his 
will, dated 16 September, 1633, he refers to Governor William Bradford 
as "brother," and Samuel Fuller, in his will proved 30 July, 1638, names 
" brother Wm. Wright " and his wife Priscilla, perhaps both intended as 
brothers in the Lord, so frequent in Puritan writings. 



114 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

VI. Mary, born 14 February, 1708; married John Sim- 
mons. 

VII. John, born 22 October, 1709; married, 16 January, 
1734, Mary Delano, by whom he had John and Nathaniel ; 
resided at Duxbury ; died 1742 and administration granted to 
widow, Mary, 6 September of that year. 
VIII. Elizabeth, born 5 March, 171 1 ; married, 27 October, 
1 73 1, Nehemiah Pearce. 

IX. Rachel, born 2 May, 171 2; probably died young. 

X. Joanna, born 9 October, 171 3 ; probably died young. 

XI. James, born 24 February, 171 5, at Bridgewater; had 

by wife Abigail: i. Joseph, born 1743; 2. Hannah, born 

1745; 3. Sarah, born 1748 ; 4. Huldah, killed in French and 

Indian wars, 1756.^ 

Child of BENJAMIN and MARY ( ) HANKS. 

XII. Jacob, born at Easton about 171 7; married, 25 July, 
1753, Sarah Bruce, and had nine children. 

II. Benjamin Hanks, son of Benjamin and Abigail 
Hanks, born 16 July, 1702; married Mary White, daughter 
of Richard and Catherine White, 23 April, 1724, at Marsh- 
field; removed to Mansfield 1746, but died at North Easton 
9 January, 1755, and his widow at North Easton 25 Octo- 
ber, 1760. Children of Benjamin and Catherine (White) 
Hanks were: i. Isaac, born 1725; 2. Abigail, born 1726; 
3. William, born 1728; 4. John, born 1730; 5. Richard 
White, born 1734; 6. Uriah, born 1736;'' 7. Benjamin, born 
1738; 8. Mary, born 1741 ; 9. Silas, born 1744; 10. Rachel, 
died at North Easton, 18 April, 1756. 

III. William Hanks, son of Benjamin and Abigail 

' Mitchell's Hist. Bridgewater., Mass. 

* A Uriah Hanks with wife Lurancy came from Birmingham, England, 1700, 
to Plymouth with two infant children, Benjamin and John. Compare this very 
unusual Christian name. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 115 

Hanks, born at Pembroke, Mass., 11 February, 1704, and, 
" according to statements and traditions of various members of 
the family," ' removed to Virginia and settled near the mouth 
of the Rappahannock River, where his sons — i. Abraham; 
2. Richard; 3. James; 4. John; and 5. Joseph — w^ere born. 
All of these sons, except John, were said to have removed to 
Amelia County about 1740, when the eldest of them could 
not have been above sixteen years of age and the youngest 
an infant in arms. This has been pointed out by a recently 
deceased genealogist,"" and in face of these facts we feel re- 
luctantly compelled to relinquish the line of Plymouth an- 
cestry, as deduced through William, as utterly untenable. 

Moreover, Joseph Hanks, who, in January, 1747, was 
selling lands on the Cellar Creek in Amelia County, Vir- 
ginia, would have been too old for identification with 
Joseph, the son of William, who could not possibly have 
been of age at that date, while he would also have been too 
old for identification with the Joseph Hanks, father of 
Nancy Hanks, the mother of the President, as we know her 
to have been born in February, 1784, when this Joseph must 
have been upwards of sixty years old. So that, in either case, 
this pedigree fails us in its present form, although further 
evidence may supply the missing link between William, born 
at Pembroke in 1 704, and Joseph, the father of Nancy, who 
died in 1793. 

On the whole, a much more probable derivation of Nancy 
Hanks's father would seem to have been from a family of 
Hanke,3 who resided in the immediate neighbourhood of 
the LiNCOLNS and Boones in Berks County, Pennsylvania, 
and many of whom we know to have gone also to Virginia 

^ Nancy Hanks ^ pp. 20-21. 

* Howard M. Jenkins in Penn. Hist. Mag.^ ]^^Y'> 1900, vol. xxiv, p. 130. 
3 The spelling of the name is a negligible quantity before the nineteenth 
century. 



ii6 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

y 

in the great southward migration of the eighteenth century. 
An account of this family will then be in order, that we 
may complete our survey of the possible ancestry of Nancy 
Hanks so far as the evidences have been brought to light. 
The earliest of these people whom we find in Pennsylvania 
was — 

Luke Hank from Sawley, county Derby, England, who 
patented five hundred acres of land in Chester County (the 
part now Delaware County), 21 August, 1684,' three hun- 
dred acres of this being in Darby and two hundred in New 
Town. He died before 1737, and it seems uncertain whether 
he ever resided upon his lands or, indeed, ever came to 
America, but his son — 

John Hank was of Darby, Penn., and was taxed there 
1732; named as "cousin" in will of John Hanke of White- 
marsh (of whom later), dated 1 2 December, 1730 ; and was a 
witness of the marriage of the same John's widow in March, 
1733. He was a Quaker and received certificate of removal 
from Philadelphia to Burlington, N. J., 5 February, 1738. 
He had already married there, 22 September, 1737, Rebecca 
Brian, daughter of Thomas Brian, late of Northampton town- 
ship, Burlington County, N. J., deceased. He had certificate 
from Burlington to Leicester, England, 1 744, which was re- 
turned in 1753 to Burlington, having never been presented, 
which was the " cause of considerable discussion in the meet- 
ing," but he brought a certificate from that place; from Bur- 
lington he removed to Haddonfield 16 October, 1757, and 
in 1767 from Evesham to Burlington again, where he died 
and administration was granted, 21 July, 1772,^ to his son 
John Hank. John and Rebecca (Brian) Hanke had issue 
two children : i. Hannah, named in the certificate of 1757; 

» Recorded at Medea, Chester County, Book D, p. 440. 
' Trenton, N. J., records. Book 37, p. 282. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 117 

2. John, who married Rachel Ewing. The family disappears 
from the Burlington records after 1770.' 

John Hanke of Whitemarsh, Philadelphia County,^ yeo- 
man, was most probably the brother of Luke Hank before 
named.3 He married at Gwynedd, 1 1 December, 1 7 1 1 , Sarah 
Evans, daughter of Cadwallader and Ellen (Morris) Evans,'^ 
by whom he had eight children, and who, surviving him, re- 
married at Gwynedd, 6 March, 1732-33, Thomas Williams 
of Montgomery township (her marriage being witnessed by 
her five eldest children). John Hanke's will, dated 12 De- 
cember, 1730, proved 31 May, 173 1, mentions a "cousin 
John Hank," who was certainly the son of the Luke Hank 
already mentioned, and presumably nephew of the testator 
rather than his cousin as stated,^ thus identifying him with 
the Derbyshire family. 

Children of JOHN and SARAH (EVANS) HANKE. 
L John Hanke, born 20 November, 171 2, at Gwynedd. 
Had wife Margaret , by whom he had issue : i . Joshua,^ 

' For most of the particulars relating to this family we are indebted to the 
MS. notes of Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock. 
* Now Montgomery County. 

3 See notes on will of this John, infra. 

4 Cadwallader Evans, son of Evan ap Evan, the youngest of four emigrating 
brothers in 1698, was born in Wales, 1664, died at Gwynedd, Penn., 20 May, 
1745. See pedigree in Jenkins's Hist. Gwynedd.^ pp. 145-154. 

5 The loose use of this term for all degrees of relationship is most confus- 
ing. In this case there can be little doubt that the relations were those of 
uncle and nephew, the ages of the parties and other circumstances all pointing 
to that connection. In this case John Hanke, the testator, would have been 
brother of Luke of Derbyshire. 

^ Comparison of the name of Joshua among the sons of this John Hanke 
with Joshua, the son of Joseph and brother of Nancy Hanks, suggests the 
strong probability of Joseph having been a younger son of John and brother 
of this Joshua, for whom his own son may well have been named. The family 
removed to Rockingham County, in the immediate vicinity of the Lincolns, 
adding greatly to the probabilities. 



ii8 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

who died at Gwynedd, 31 July, 1758; 2. Hannah, who mar- 
ried Asa Lupton (born 1757), son of William and Grace 
(Pickering) Lupton of Frederick County, Maryland, re- 
sided in Rockingham County, Virginia ; and very probably 
others. He lived six miles east of Reading, within a half-mile 
of the house of Mordecai Lincoln. Removed to Virginia.^ 
IL Jane Hanke, born 12 October, 171 4. Married, at 
Gwynedd, 13 May, 1736, John Roberts (born 17 14) of 
Whitpain, son of John and Elizabeth (Edwards) Roberts,* 
and died 9 August, 1745. 

III. Elizabeth Hanke, born 28 January, 171 6; living 

1733- 

IV. William Hanke, born 171 9; died an infant. 

V. William Hanke, born 12 November, 1720; living 

1733- 

VI. Samuel Hanke, born 15 March, 1723. Of Burling- 
ton, N. J.; married there, 26 October, 17 — , by licence, to 
Sarah Going. 

VII. Joseph Hanke, born 1725. He was living and wit- 
ness to will of John Edward of Montgomery County, Penn- 
sylvania, dated 9 April, 1749. He probably went to Virginia 
with the other members of the family, but it seems impos- 
sible that he could have been the father of Nancy Hanks, 
as he would have been fifty-nine years old at the time of her 
birth in 1784.^ 

VIII. Sarah Hanke, born 8 October, 1728 ; she removed 
to Burlington, N. J., in August, 1752, and was afterwards dis- 
owned by the Quakers and probably married out of meeting. 

' Hist. Gwynedd^ P« 373- 

^ John Roberts, the father, was fourth son of Robert Cadwallader, who 
came to Pennsylvania at an advanced age with his family from North Wales in 
1700 and settled at Gwynedd, being preceded by his three elder sons. Op. cit., 
pp. 197-203. 

' See p. 122. 



COGNATE FAMILIES 119 

Joseph Hanks, the father of Nancy Hanks, was almost 
certainly descended from John Hanke of Gwynedd and 
Whitemarsh, but we can say with equal certainty that he 
was not the son of that John who was born at Gwynedd in 
1725, but he may have been the son of either John, William, 
Samuel, or Joseph, the four surviving sons of John. Of these 
the probabilities seem to point most strongly to John, as he 
is known to have been in Rockingham County, Virginia, in 
the immediate neighbourhood of the Lincolns (with whom 
he doubtless went to Virginia in 1768), and also from the 
coincidence of the name of Joshua among both their chil- 
dren. 

All authorities agree that his wife was Nancy Shipley, 
the daughter of Robert Shipley,' an Englishman who had 
settled in Lunenburg County, Virginia,' in 1765. He is said 
to have been also of Amelia County ,3 and the deeds found 
there show a flourishing colony of Hankses in that region,'* 
— Joseph, Abraham, Richard, and James, all brothers; but, 
although we here find a Joseph who could have just been 
identified in point of age with the son of John of White- 
marsh born in 1725, as he would have been twenty-two at the 
signing of his earliest deed, 1 2 January, 1 747, yet the latter had 
no brothers Abraham, Richard, or James, and it seems to the 
writers more probable that it is to Rockingham County that 
we must look for our Joseph's birth and parentage. Future 
and more thorough investigation will no doubt make all clear. 

Whether from Amelia, Bedford, or Rockingham county, 
it is at least certain that Joseph Hanks, with his kinsfolk by 

* See Shipley family, p. io8. 

^ Shackford says North Carolina, but the patent of land seems to prove 
conclusively that it was Virginia. (See N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg.., April, 1887.) 

3 There were also Hankses in the records of Bedford County, which had been 
set off from Amelia. 

■♦ Hitchcock's Nancy Hanks., pp. 21-24. 



I20 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

marriage, — the Lincolns, the Berrys, the Mitchells, and the 
Sparrows, — had all come over the mountains into Kentucky 
during the 1780's, and that the last three had settled near the 
present town of Springfield in Washington County, where the 
family of the murdered Abraham Lincoln had afterward taken 
refuge among them. 

Joseph Hanks lived but a few years after his emigration to 
Kentucky in 1789. He had settled in Nelson County, where 
he died in 1793. His will, dated 9 January, was proved 14 
May of that year. His wife, Nancy Shipley, or Nannie as he 
affectionately calls her, survived him and, with his son Wil- 
liam, executed the will. 

Children of JOSEPH and NANCY (SHIPLEY) 
HANKS. 

I. William Hanks, probably the eldest son, was living 
and executor with his mother of his father's estate in 1793. 
He married, 1 2 September, 1 793, at Bardstown, Ky., Elizabeth 
Hall,' by whom he had eleven children, all born in Elizabeth- 
town, Ky. : I . James, born 1 794, married and had issue ; 
2. Elizabeth; 3. Nancy; 4. Charles, married and had issue; 
5. William; 6. Celia; 7. Joseph; 8. John, born 1802, mar- 
ried Susan Wilson Nie, removed to Spencer County, Indiana, 
thence in 1828 to Macon County, Illinois, where in 1830 he 
was followed by the Lincoln family; he died i July, 1889, 
left issue ;^ 9. Lucinda, born 27 February, 181 3, married 
Thomas Douglas, died 1890 in California; 10. Sarah, mar- 

' Elizabeth and her brothers, Levi Hall (who married Elizabeth Hanks) and 
David and Henry Hall, were of a Virginia family w^ho settled at Greens- 
burg, a few miles southwest of Washington County, Kentucky. The father 
was killed by Indians, and his widow married Caleb Hazel, by whom she 
had four children, — Richard, Peter, Caleb, and Lydia. The third son, Caleb 
Hazel, was Abraham Lincoln's early teacher. 

' The well-known John Hanks, the cousin and boyhood friend of Abraham 
Lincoln and his companion in the famous rail-splitting. 



^ 



\^ 



'<^ 






>? 






vr 



COGNATE FAMILIES 121 

ried Brown of Illinois; 1 1. Andrew Jackson, of Mount 

Pleasant, Iowa. William Hanks removed with his brother 
Joseph and Thomas Lincoln and their families in 1 8 1 6 to 
Spencer County, Indiana, where other of their relatives fol- 
lowed them in 1826. He afterward went to Macon County, 
Illinois, near Decatur, where he died in 1851 or 1852. 

II. Thomas Hanks married and remained in Virginia 
until 1 801, when he removed with his family to Ross County, 
Ohio. He had seven children: i. Peter; 2. Absalom; 
3. Isaac; 4. William; 5. Nancy; 6. A son ; 7. A daughter. 

III. Joshua Hanks, born in Virginia. Married and lived 
in Kentucky. He had two children: i. Absalom, and 2. A 
daughter. 

IV. Charles Hanks lived in Kentucky. Married and had 
four children : i.Jane; 2. John ; 3. Conrad; 4. Nancy. Of 
this family nothing more is known. 

V. Joseph Hanks, born January, 1781. Married, 10 
November, 1810, at Elizabethtown, Ky., Mary (Polly) 
Young, daughter of John and Susanna Young of Hardin 
County, Kentucky (born 1793). He was a carpenter and 
cabinet-maker, and of him Thomas Lincoln learned his 
trade. In 1 8 1 6 he removed, with his brother William and 
Thomas Lincoln and their families, to Spencer County, In- 
diana, and in 1826 to Sangamon County, Illinois, later to 
Adams County, near Quincy, where he died 4 April, 1856, 
and his widow 24 January, 1872. He had twelve children: 
I. Jacob Vertrees, born 1 8 1 2, had issue ; 2. Elizabeth, mar- 
ried James Kirkpatrick; 3. Susanna, born 18 16; 4. Nancy, 
born 18 1 8, married William Hoosier ; 5. An infant, died 
young; 6. Ditto; 7. John Henry, born 1822, had issue; 
8. Joseph, born 1825, had issue; 9. Mary Ann, born 1827, 
married William Hall; ' 10. Amaltha Jane, born 1830, mar- 
' See note under William Hanks, p. 120. 



122 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

ried Henry Loper; ii. Isabelle, born 1833, married ; 

12. Caroline, born 1836, married James Hall.' 

VI. Elizabeth Hanks (Betsey) married Levi Hall, bro- 
ther of Elizabeth Hall, wife of William Hanks,' removed to 
Spencer County, Indiana, soon after her brothers and sister, 
Nancy Lincoln, and died shortly after and buried beside 
her. They had three children : i . Squire Hall, married 
Matilda Johnston, daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Bush)^ 
Johnston, and had nine children; 2. William Hall, married 
Mary Ann Hanks, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Young) 
Hanks; 3. James Hall, married Caroline Hanks, sister of the 
last named. 

VII. Mary Hanks (Polly) married, 10 December, 1795, at 
Elizabethtown, Jesse Friend.^ 

VIII. Nancy Hanks, born 5 February, 1784, and left an 
orphan at her parents' death in 1 793. She was adopted by her 
aunt, Lucy (Shipley '^) Berry, whose husband, Richard 
Berry, became her legal guardian, and at whose house in 
Beechland, Washington County, Ky., she married, 1 2 June, 
1 806, Thomas Lincoln, her uncle, Richard Berry, becoming 
surety on the marriage bond. The mother of Abraham Lin- 
coln. Died 5 October, 1818. 

"All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. 
Blessings on her memory." ^ 

' See note under William Hanks, p. 120. 

* The second wife of Thomas Lincoln. 

3 His brother, Charles Friend, married Nancy Sparrow, daughter of Thomas 
and Elizabeth (Shipley) Sparrow, and had a son, Dennis Friend, whose sub- 
sequent assumption of the name of Hanks has greatly increased the popular 
confusion in the Hanks pedigree. 

■♦ See Shipley family, p. 106. 

5 Abraham Lincoln's tribute to his mother's memory. 



CHAPTER X 
THOMAS LINCOLN — THE MAN 

THE earlier biographers either neglected the Presi- 
dent's father altogether and passed him over in si- 
lence or painted him as a good-natured but rather 
incapable man, unfortunate in most of his undertakings, but 
brave, honest, moral, and religious.' With later sensational 
writers, how^ever, posing for effect to the galleries, the temp- 
tation to exaggerate if not to invent, to deepen the shadows 
and slur over the better parts, to magnify, in short, the great- 
ness of the son by besmirching the character of the father, has 
proved too strong to resist, and a gross and grotesque cari- 
cature, with little or no foundation in fact, has been the final 
and shameful result."" 

Let us take a brief conspectus of the life of Thomas Lin- 
coln, from his desolate and orphaned childhood to his grave, 
and see how far this harsh criticism is just or how much of it 
is due to foolish fable or vindictive political malice. 

Born in Virginia, he must have accompanied his father as 
an infant of about two years on his emigration to Kentucky 
and witnessed his murder three years later, only escaping cap- 
ture by the savages through the accurate aim of his brother 
Mordecai. Whether or not his mother, Bathsheba, took re- 

' "A good-natured man of undoubted integrity, but inefficient in making his 
way in the world and improvident" (Holland's Life^ p. 23). " An easy-going 
man, entirely without ambition but not without self-respect " (Nicolay and 
Hay, Life^ vol. i, p. 12 ; Cent. Mag., November, 1886, vol. xxxiii,p. 14. See 
also Arnold and Raymond). 

' Herndon's Life, vol. i, p. 8; Lamon's Life, pp. 8-19; Morse's Life, 
vol. i, pp. 9-15, and others. 



124 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

fuge with him in Washington County after the tragedy may 
never be known, but our next glimpse of him is obtained 
there where, abandoned by his half-brothers, he found a re- 
fuge and friends among the relatives of his father's first wife, 
the Shipleys. 

Deserted by those whose natural ward he was, a helpless 
child in perhaps the rudest of all of our frontiers at any pe- 
riod, Thomas Lincoln was left to beg, starve, or steal, as he 
might elect, by his unnatural brethren. That the first two 
fates did not overtake him was due to the kindly hospitality 
of his step-aunts, the sisters of his father's first wife ; while he 
was guarded from the last dread alternative by the stern and 
inflexible Puritan honesty in his blood, the only heritage left 
him of his Lincoln ancestry. 

Thrown thus upon his own resources in a wild land swarm- 
ing with savage beasts and still more savage men, he reso- 
lutely took up a life of hard manual labour as a farm boy, in 
the early course of which we find the only record of any aid 
or help from his paternal relatives, as we learn that a year 
of his youth was passed at Watauga on the Holston River in 
Tennessee, with his uncle, Isaac Lincoln; but we may gather 
that the bread of dependence eaten at the board of his rela- 
tive was stale and profitless, as we so soon find him again in 
Washington County among those already proved more kind 
than kin, and from whom he never separated far or for long 
again. 

With a courage and energy that have been so little appre- 
ciated, he not only supported himself by his rude and ill- 
requited tasks, but learned, and apparently learned well,' the 

' " Had the best set of tools in Washington County . . . was a good car- 
penter for those days " (Letter of Dr. C. C. Graham, see Tarbell, vol. i, p. 6). 
"Was a good carpenter" (Letter of Rev. T. N. Robertson, Pastor of Little 
Pigeon Church, Cent. Mag.^ November, 1886, Nicolay and Hay, vol. i, p. 18). 



THOMAS LINCOLN — THE MAN 125 

trade of a carpenter, at the shop of Joseph Hanks, the brother 
of his future wife, whose name may serve to remind us that 
this trade was the one dignified beyond all others throughout 
Christendom. 

He had in some way managed, during this period, to pick 
up the rudiments of an education, as we learn by finding him 
signing his own name to his marriage bond in a firm, bold 
hand, not altogether unlike that so characteristic of his emi- 
nent son/ He had also shown himself so thrifty with his 
small savings that, at the age of twenty-five, he had purchased 
a farm * destined to be the future birthplace of his illustrious 
son and to be conserved as such for a national domain forever. 

Near Springfield in Washington County, pretty Nancy 
Hanks had grown up, since the death of her parents in 1793, 
with her aunt, Lucy Shipley, whose worthy husband, Richard 
Berry, had become her guardian,^ and probably Thomas Lin- 
coln had been a frequent visitor, if not often a resident, in 
his house, and the young people matured together as cousins 
de facto if not actually de jure, while Thomas Lincoln's ap- 
prenticeship with Nancy Hanks's elder brother must have 
still further cemented their friendship. Their long intimacy 
ripened into love, and they were married'^ at the home of 

* See facsimile of marriage bond in Mrs. Hitchcock's Nancy Hanks^ P- 6i, 
and Tarbell's Life^ vol. i, p. ii. See also p. 85. 

^ " A fair representative section of the land in its immediate region ... (in 
1890) vv^as then under cultivation and yielding an average crop" (Coffin). 
Now known as Lincoln Park. *' Above grade of ordinary country boy to 
have had energy and ambition to learn a trade and secure a farm through his 
own efforts by the time he was twenty-five" (Tarbell, vol. i, p. 14). 

3 It has been asserted that one Parrott was her guardian, but he was in fact 
only witness to the marriage bond signed by Richard Berry in that capacity. 

* By Rev. Jesse Head, deacon of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a noted 
man of the period, — preacher, carpenter, editor, and country judge, — and said 
to have been imbued with ideas, both on religion and slavery, far in advance 
of his times (Hitchcock's Nancy Hanks^ p. 59). He afterward went to Har- 
rodsburg, Ky., and died there (^Ibid.^ p. 67). 



126 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

Richard Berry in Beechland, he also becoming the surety on 
the marriage bond. Their wedding was celebrated with all 
the rude and boisterous hilarity and hospitality of the times, 
a detailed account of which has come down to us from an eye- 
witness and participant.^ 

After the marriage Thomas Lincoln took his bride to 
Elizabethtown, where he worked at his trade of carpenter, 
probably finding ample occupation in the recently founded 
and rapidly growing town.^ At this place was born their first 
child, the daughter Nancy or Sarah, whose early and pathetic 
death is elsewhere recorded. 

The following year, 1 808, they removed to the farm which 
had been secured by Thomas Lincoln five years previous, at 
Buffalo on the Big South Fork of Nolin's Creek, three miles 
from Hodgensville and fourteen from Elizabethtown, and 
here, on the 12th of February, 1809, a day that will be for- 
ever henceforward celebrated as a national holiday in Amer- 
ica, was born Abraham Lincoln, the greatest figure of his 
century and one of the grandest of all history. 

In 1 8 1 3 the family, apparently prospering, moved again to 
a fine farm of 238 acres at Muldraugh's Hill on Knob Creek, 
near Rolling Fork,^ and only a short distance from their 
first more humble residence, and here a third child was born, 
Thomas, who died an infant and was there buried. At this 
period the children, Nancy and Abraham, obtained most of 
their scanty schooling of Zachariah Riney, a Catholic, and 
Caleb HazeL-^ 

In the spring of 1 8 1 6 Thomas Lincoln was appointed as 

' Dr. C. C. Graham of Louisville, Ky. (Tarbell, vol. i, p. 10, and Nancy 
Hanks^ p. 65). 

' It had been laid out in 1793. 

* His selections of land cannot with justice be cited as evidence of ineffi- 
ciency or vi^ant of judgment (Coffin). 

* See his parentage under Hanks family in Cognate Families, p. 120. 



THOMAS LINCOLN — THE MAN 127 

the road surveyor on the road from Nolin to Bardstown' in 
place of George Redman, a position that reflects the confi- 
dence of his neighbours, and recalls the fact that his distin- 
guished son eighteen years later occupied a similar charge in 
Sangamon County, Illinois. 

Why Thomas Lincoln abandoned this farm, which all au- 
thorities agree was the best of all his holdings, will never be 
known ; but it seems not improbable that his antipathy to 
human slavery may have prompted his removal beyond the 
Ohio into a free state,'' to which motive cause we may add 
the defective land titles in Kentucky which had already 
operated so much to the prejudice of the great discoverer, 
Boone himself. 

Be this as it may, in 1 8 1 6 he had determined to try his 
fortunes in Indiana and set out on a prospecting trip upon a 
flatboat on the Ohio River, with his outfit of carpenter's 
tools and four hundred gallons of whiskey, smoked bear 
meat, hams, venison, and peltry, in which he had shrewdly 
invested, in accordance with the custom of the period, as a 
profitable and portable form of capital.^ The boat was 
wrecked on the journey, but Thomas Lincoln rescued the 
greater part of his worldly wealth from the waters and, de- 

' He was appointed i8 May, 1816 (Tarbell, vol. i, p. 13). 

» " Thomas and Nancy Lincoln and Sally Bush were just steeped full of 
Jesse Head's notions about the wrong of slavery and the rights of man as ex- 
plained by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine " (Letter of Dr. C. C. Gra- 
ham, see Tarbell, vol. i, p. 35). " He shrank from seeing his children grow 
up in a community cursed with slavery. ... He could see nothing in the 
future but labour by the side of the negro, and degradation in his presence 
and companionship " (Holland, vol. i, pp. 23-25). 

3 According to Dr. Graham, this trip down the Ohio had trade at New 
Orleans as its objective, from which he was only deterred by the loss of his 
vessel and much of her cargo. If this be correct, as it probably is, we have 
here another example of Thomas Lincoln's uncredited enterprise (Letter of 
Dr. C. C. Graham, see Hitchcock's Nancy Hanks^ pp. 94-96). 



128 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

positing his effects with a worthy settler named Posey, he 
located his claim, journeyed to Vincennes (seventy miles) to 
enter it, and returned to bring his family to the home of his 
selection on free soil in Spencer County, Indiana, near Gen- 
tryville, where his children completed such schooling as they 
could obtain under three instructors, named Hazel Dorsey, y/^ 
Andrew Crawford, and "Mr." Swaney, the latter in the year ;■ 
1826, when, at the age of seventeen, the future President's 
scholastic career abruptly ended. 

Great suffering and many misfortunes marked their advent 
into their new home, and much has been made of the fact 
that for the first year of their life in Indiana their only shel- 
ter was a "half-faced camp," which did duty as a residence 
until Thomas Lincoln could clear his land,' sow the seed for 
his first harvest, and fell and shape the timber for his house. 
This camp, however, was neither better nor worse than the 
average cabin of the then pioneer^ or, indeed, of the fron- 
tiersman of our own day in the yet unsubdued portions of the 
West. The climate was not a harsh one,^ and while the life 
was certainly one of great hardship, it was neither unique nor 
impossible in its conditions.'^ 

Here they were joined by Nancy's sister, Elizabeth Hanks, 

' " It is all stuff about Tom Lincoln keeping his wife in an open shed. . . . 
Tom Lincoln was a man and took care of his wife " (Dr. C. C. Graham, 
Tarbell, vol. i, p. 14). 

^ See Hon. Joseph H. Barrett of Ohio, in A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., vol. xlviii, 

PP- 327-328. 

3 Gentryville lies a little further south than Louisville, Ky., a fact often 
lost sight of. See N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., vol. xlviii, p. 328. 

4 " There was nothing ignoble or mean in this Indiana pioneer life. It was 
rude, but only with the rudeness which the ambitious are willing to endure in 
order to push on to a better condition . . . there was nothing belittling in 
their life ; there was no pauperism, no shirking. If their lives lacked culture 
and refinement they were rich in independence and self-reliance " (Tarbell's 
Life, vol. i, p. 47). 



THOMAS LINCOLN — THE MAN 129 

and her husband, Thomas Sparrow, who occupied the camp 
when the Lincolns moved into their nearly completed house. 
But sorely tried Thomas Lincoln had yet worse to contend 
with than had gone before. A malignant malarial fever ' was 
now epidemic in the region, and the Sparrows, husband and 
wife, succumbed to it, leaving their young grandson^ to the 
care of the Lincolns; but, a few days later, Nancy Lincoln 
also fell a victim to the deadly disorder, leaving her husband 
in his desolate home with three young children sadly in need 
of a mother's care. 

Thomas Lincoln, however, showed himself equal to this 
trying situation. At Elizabethtown in Kentucky there lived 
a worthy woman of unusual ability and force of character,^ 
whom he had known in his earlier life, named Sarah Bush. 
She had subsequently married a man of the name of Daniel 
Johnston,-* who had been the jail-keeper of Hardin County ; 
but he was now dead, leaving her with three young children, 
two girls and a boy. 5 

Her Thomas Lincoln wooed and won, and in the early 
winter of 1 8 1 9 brought home his new wife, with an ample 
marriage portion of household gear.^ Neither he nor his 

» Locally known as the " milk sick," believed to have been caused by poi- 
sonous herbs eaten by the milch cattle. 

^ The son of their daughter, Nancy Sparrow, who had married Charles 
Friend (the brother of Jesse Friend, see p. io8), and died leaving an only child 
called Dennis Friend, who afterward assumed the name of Dennis Hanks (see 
p. 122), causing deplorable confusion in the true understanding regarding the 
Hanks family. 

3 " His choice of two noble women as his successive partners in life indi- 
cates some corresponding quality of character" (Binns's Lincoln^ p. 7). 

4 Married 13 March, 1806, and who died in April, 18 14 (Barrett's Lincoln^ 
p. 17). 

5 John David, Sarah, and Matilda Johnston. 

^ He had paid off her debts in full before their marriage (Letter Samuel Hay- 
croft, clerk of Washington County, 7 December, 1866: Herndon, vol. i,p. 26). 



I30 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

children had ever reason to regret his choice, and her illus- 
trious stepson, whose wonderful career she survived, always 
spoke of her with only less reverence and affection than of 
his own sainted mother.' 

Always a man of religious mind and a consistent attendant 
at such churches as were available, he now, influenced no 
doubt by the recent establishment of a Baptist Church at 
Little Pigeon Creek, became a member of it in 1823, fol- 
lowed three years later by his daughter. There is not a scin- 
tilla of evidence that he had ever been connected with any 
other sect than the one with which he now united himself. 
If this form of worship was "unintellectual and unenlight- 
ened,'"^ it was at least the best that the culture of the time 
and place afforded, and he remained a devout member of it 
throughout his long life.^ The fact that, five years previous, 
it had been a twelvemonth before a clergyman could be 
found to preach the funeral sermon at the grave of his former 
wife "♦ speaks volumes for the poverty of the religious life in 

' "As to his acuteness and his perception of character, certainly the selec- 
tions he made when seeking both his first and second wives stand to his credit. 
Both Nancy Hanks and Sally Bush are described by all as women of exceptional 
qualities " (H. M. Jenkins, " The Mother of Lincoln," in Penn. Mag., vol. 
xxiv, p. 130). 

^ Morse, vol. i, p. 14. President Garfield and Jeremiah S. Black were Baptists. 

3 "They were known as active and consistent members of the communion. 
A walnut table made by him is still preserved as part of the furniture of the 
church " (Letter of Rev. T. V. Robertson, Pastor of Little Pigeon Church, 
see Cent. Mag. ^ November, 1886, p. 20). "A church-goer and, if tradition 
may be believed, a stout defender of his peculiar religious views " (Hitchcock's 
Nancy Hanks., p. 56). "He was a consistent member through life of the 
church of my choice, the Christian Church or Church of Christ ; and was 
as far as I know . . . always truthful, conscientious, and religious " (Rev. 
Thos. Goodwin of Charleston, 111., in 1887. A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg.^ vol. xlviii, 
p. 238). 

* Rev. David Elkins, who, at the boy Abraham's entreaty, rode one hun- 
dred miles to officiate in the sad rite. 




4!«>i>«yrx?^-^/^«-<^i>:!^c 4.<«^-^^ '^<^- •Jn-f/M' r/M' 



THOMAS LINCOLN — THE MAN 131 

the region. His daughter, who had followed him in his pro- 
fession of faith, had been married at about the same time ' and 
died in childbed less than two years after," adding another 
weight to the load of affliction of this already heavily burdened 

man. 

John Hanks, the son of Joseph Hanks, of whom Thomas 
Lincoln had learned his trade, had now also joined the little 
household at Pigeon Creek; but in 1829 he pushed on to 
the westward with the pioneer instinct that seemed inherent 
in the race, and settled in Macon County, Illinois, whither 
his letters, filled with glowing descriptions of the incredible 
fertility of the new land, drew his kinsfolk after him the fol- 
lowing year. 

The reasons of this last migration are not far to seek; a 
barren and infertile land, poisoned by miasma, tormented by 
insect pests, and where sickness and death had followed him 
like a Nemesis during most of the fourteen years of his resi- 
dence in Indiana, made this removal probably the wisest step 
ever taken by Thomas Lincoln during his chequered career, 
and the increased prosperity that thenceforth attended the 
family fully justified his course. 

Much has been said of Thomas Lincoln's frequent mi- 
grations, but these, with the exception of his unexplained 
relinquishment of his fine farm on Knob Creek for the pesti- 
lent woods of Indiana, rather redound to his credit than to 
his prejudice; and even this last, if actuated by his revolt 
against the incubus of human slavery, should not be laid 
against him. Fourteen years' residence in Indiana and twenty- 
one in lUinois, the latter punctuated by one minor change,^ 

» To Aaron Grigsby, in August, 1826. 

» On 20 May, 1828. 

3 "After a year or two in Macon County, he passed the remaining twenty 
years of his life in Coles County" (J. H. Barrett, A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., 
vol. xlviii, p. 328). 



132 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

hardly demonstrate a " restless squatter." ^ If he had, like most 
of his neighbours, somewhat of the rover in his composition, 
he came rightly by it, for a notable point of character in the 
Lincoln family, after they broke away from the locality in 
England where they had lived for centuries, has been the 
strenuous energy which made six out of the seven genera- 
tions in America (to and including the President), pioneers 
in new and wilder lands.^ Thomas Lincoln, so often pointed 
out scornfully as a "rolling stone," was but following the in- 
stinct in his veins, and if less fortunate, was not more itin- 
erant than his great-grandfather, Mordecai Lincoln, whose 
prosperous career belied the ancient proverb. 

In March, 1830, began the last "great trek'* that was 
destined to mark the dawn of returning prosperity for the 
family and to make Abraham Lincoln a citizen of the Prairie 
State. Thomas Lincoln and his wife, Abraham, then just ar- 
rived at his majority, John D. Johnston, the wife's son, and 
her two daughters, Sarah and Matilda, and their husbands, 
Dennis Hanks and Squire Hall, formed the party who toiled 
for two weeks through forest and prairie to Macon County, 
where they were welcomed at the Hanks farm near Decatur, 
and at once set to work, with John Hanks's assistance, to 
erect their new house for which the timber had already been 

' Morse, vol. i, p. 9; Herndon, vol. i, p. 8. 

* I. Samuel Lincoln came from England to Massachusetts Bay, 1637. 
2. Mordecai Lincoln, his son, lived and died in Massachusetts, being the only 
exception to the rule in the direct line. 3. Mordecai Lincoln, his son, went to 
New Jersey about 1 7 10 and to Pennsylvania about 1721. 4. John Lincoln, his 
son, went to Virginia, 1 768. 5. Abraham Lincoln, his son, went to Kentucky, 
1782. 6. Thomas Lincoln, his son, went to Indiana, 18 16, and to Illinois, 
1830. 7. Abraham Lincoln, his son, went to Illinois with his father, 1830, 
being then aged above twenty-one years. 

This has also been remarked by Shackford (A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., vol. xli, 
p. 156), but he lost sight of the fact that Abraham Lincoln, being of age in 
1830, was also entitled to be enrolled as one of the pioneers. 



THOMAS LINCOLN — THE MAN 133 

cut, and Abraham, together with John Hanks, cleared, 
ploughed, and planted a field of fifteen acres for the first 
crop, fencing it with the black walnut rails which were to 
figure so prominently in the election campaign thirty-one 
years later, and ended his home life with his last filial ser- 
vice. His after fortunes have become a part of his country's 
history. 

The winter which followed was that of "the deep snow,'* a 
terrible landmark in the memories of the old people which still 
lingered but a few years since.' The sufferings of our pioneers 
must have been intense, but the tide of fortune had turned; 
henceforward they were never to know again the grinding 
poverty and misfortune endured in Indiana, and Thomas Lin- 
coln's declining years were passed quietly and peacefully to 
their ending at a little beyond the limitation of the Psalmist, 
proud in the already great achievements and content in the 
affection and esteem of his only son.^ 

With characteristic modesty Abraham Lincoln has summed 
up the family history as "the short and simple annals of the 
poor"; as a matter of fact, they were much more than that, 
and a survey of this sturdy struggle against every disadvantage 
can leave no unfavourable impression on the broad and un- 
biassed mind. It is an object-lesson of only less import than 
the life of his more favoured son. Had Thomas Lincoln 
faltered by the wayside, had he been a drunkard, a profligate, 
a sluggard, or a rogue,^ the brilliant life of Abraham Lin- 

' Powers's Early Settlers of Sangamon County. 

^ " He was a man whom everybody loved and held the warm affection of 
his eminent son throughout his life " (Holland, p. 24). 

3 " All stories to the disparagement of Thomas Lincoln are exaggerated. 
He was no financier, but he was a brave, sensible, high-minded man " (Letter 
of Major H. C. Whitney to Mrs. C. H. Hitchcock, 17 January, 1895). "In 
spite of his wandering life, contracted no bad habits. He was temperate and 
honest" {Nancy Hanks ^ p. 56). 



134 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

coin would never have been lived — a fact entitled to the 
grateful consideration of his countrymen. 

Thomas Lincoln was not a great man in any sense of the 
word, — it is given to but few of us to be, — but he was a 
good many which is within the reach of, if not attained by all. 
The inflexible honesty, truth, humour and good nature which 
were his son's direct heritage from him, as well as the intel- 
lectual force, latent but not extinguished, transmitted from 
his early New England ancestors, constituted a foundation on 
which was to be builded the best, wisest, and greatest of all 
Americans, past, present, and perhaps to come. 



CHAPTER XI 
INHERITED TRAITS 

FEW names have been more prominent than that of 
Lincoln in the history of the Colony and the early 
days of the Republic, and it is a significant fact that 
the greater part of those so distinguished are found among 
the descendants of Samuel. 

No less than eight persons of the name of Lincoln settled 
in Hingham, Mass., prior to 1650, — from whom probably 
all, or nearly all, of the family in America derive their de- 
scent.' There were, besides Samuel, the ancestor of the 
President, a Stephen, two Daniels, and four Thomases ; the 
latter segregated as weaver, cooper, miller, and husbandman. 
Thomas the weaver, one of the Daniels, and Samuel were 
brothers, as were Stephen and Thomas the husbandman; 
the relative connection of these with one another and the 
three others is unknown, but they were presumably not dis- 
tantly related. With the exception of the two brothers of 
Samuel, all of them left numerous descendants. 

From Thomas the cooper was derived Hon. Benjamin 
Lincoln (i 699-1 771), member of the Executive Council, 
and his more widely known son, Major-General Benjamin 
of the Revolution. 

Stephen's descendants appear to have won their laurels in 
more peaceful paths: Isaac (Harvard, 1722), long a teacher 
at Hingham; Abner (Harvard, 1788), professor at Derby 

' The only other early Lincolns in New England were Robert of Boston, 
1646, who died in 1663 (A^. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., vol. xii, p. 154), and William 
of Roxbury, fatally wounded in the Narragansett fight, 1675, who had no 
children. 



136 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

Academy; Rev. Perez (Harvard, 1798), minister at Glouces- 
ter, Mass., and Rev. Calvin (Harvard, 1820), long the revered 
pastor of the First Church of Hingham being numbered 
among them. 

But it is when we reach the issue of Samuel that we are 
impressed with the extraordinary number of prominent men 
that adorn the roll of his posterity ; not only in the cloistered 
life of the student, as with Stephen's issue, or on the battle- 
field, as with those of Thomas, but as authors, historians, 
lawyers, physicians, judges, fiduciary heads of great business 
organisations, and high in the councils of state, we everywhere 
find evidence of the commanding ability and intellectual force 
that seem to have been slowly developing along varied lines 
to finally culminate, stimulated perhaps by the rugged life of 
the Western pioneer, in the mental and physical development 
of Abraham Lincoln. 

The names of a few of these may be recalled to mind to 
illustrate the cogency of the argument: Hon. Solomon Lin- 
coln, the historian of Hingham, who had also been twice 
Representative and United States Marshal; William (1801- 
43), the historian of Worcester, Mass.; Rev. Henry (Har- 
vard, 1786), pastor of First Parish of Falmouth, Mass.; Dr. 
Isaac (Harvard, 1800), of Brunswick, Maine, for sixty years 
overseer of Bowdoin College; Dr. David Francis of Boston, a 
distinguished physician; Amos, of the " Boston Tea Party" 
and Captain of Artillery in the Revolutionary War; him- 
self the son of Enoch of Hingham, Representative to the 
General Court (1776), and who was also father of Hon. Levi 
Lincoln of Worcester (1749- 1820), Member of Congress, 
Senator, Attorney-General of the United States, Secretary of 
State under Jefferson, Lieutenant-Governor and Governor of 
Massachusetts (1807-09), appointed to a seat on the bench 
of the Supreme Court of United States, but declined the 



INHERITED TRAITS 137 

honour; his son, also Hon. Levi ( 178 2- 1868), State Senator 
and Representative (1812-22), Speaker (1820-22), Lieuten- 
ant-Governor and Governor of Massachusetts (1825—34), 
Associate Justice of Supreme Court and Member of Con- 
gress ; Enoch ( 1 788-1 829), the brother of the last named, 
of Fryeburg, Maine, Governor of Maine (1826-29); Abra- 
ham of Worcester, Mass. (1762-1824), delegate to State 
Constitutional Convention and member of Executive Coun- 
cil (a younger brother of the first Governor Levi); Daniel 
Waldo (1813-80), son of the second Governor Levi, Vice- 
President of the Boston and Albany Railroad (1867-76) and 
President from 1876 until his death; George, his brother. 
Captain United States Army, and killed at Buena Vista, 
Mexico, in 1847, v^hile gallantly leading his men to the 
charge; another brother, General William Sever, Colonel 
Thirty-fourth Massachusetts and Brigadier-General in Civil 
War, and many others ; but these may suffice to demonstrate 
the remarkable and versatile talents of the family. 

Taking up the more immediate line of the President, we 
find his uncle Mordecai, the elder brother of Thomas, Sheriff 
of his county and member of the Legislature of Kentucky.' 
Jacob Lincoln, of the next earlier generation, the brother of 
Abraham, the Kentucky pioneer, was a lieutenant in the 
Continental Army, while Abraham himself, at the breaking 
out of the war in 1 776, had been a captain of the Virginia 
Militia.'' Ascending yet another degree to "Virginia John," 
the emigrant from Pennsylvania, we find his three half- 
brothers all occupying leading places in their respective com- 
munities : Mordecai, next eldest to John, served as quarter- 
master in the Revolutionary War ; the next, Thomas, was 

' Letter of W. F. Booker, clerk of Washington County, 26 March, 1895. 
Barrett's Lincoln^ p. 6. 

* See Husting Court Records at Staunton, Va., where his name appears on 
a court-martial in that year as Abraham Linkhorn. 



138 THE ANCESTRY OF LINCOLN 

Representative for Berks County in the Pennsylvania General 
Assembly, 1758 ; and the youngest, Abraham, was Representa- 
tive (1782-85), delegate to State Convention (1787), and 
State Constitutional Convention (1790). 

Through all the names that have been mentioned, as well as 
the many that have not, has run the warp of inflexible honesty 
characteristic of the race, which reached its apotheosis in the 
affectionate and well-merited title of " Honest Abe." 

Turning now to the distaff lines of ascent, we find ourselves 
much hampered by our still scanty knowledge of the pedi- 
grees of the more recent intermarriages ; but the patient re- 
searches of Mrs. Hitchcock ' have shown us that the Hanks 
family, from whom Abraham Lincoln derived his stature and 
personal appearance,"* was one of unusual ability. 

In the next generation we find the father and three uncles 
of Bathsheba Herring serving in the Continental Army 
throughout the Revolution, and in the suspected connection 
with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Herring ( 1 691- 
1757), we realise what important results probably await an 
exhaustive examination of the English pedigree of this family. 

The poverty of the Pennsylvania and, still more, of the Vir- 
ginia records has deprived us of knowledge of even the name 
of the ancestress in the next generation, but when we reach 
the Salters we find ourselves again upon sure ground. Richard 
Salter, the grandfather of "Virginia John" Lincoln, was a 
man who would have been notable in any community, — 
member of the House of Deputies of New Jersey (1695), 
of the Assembly (1704), Justice, Judge, and Captain, while 
Richard, his son, was a member of the Council and Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. 

' Nancy Hanks^ the Story of Abraham Lincoln's Mother^ by C. H. Hitchcock, 
New York, 1900. A Complete Genealogy of the Hanks Family, by the same 
hand, is also in preparation. 

^ Ibid., p. 86. 



INHERITED TRAITS 139 

Through Richard Salter's wife, Sarah Bowne,we draw upon 
another distinguished line, — her father, John Bowne, having 
been Representative in Hampstead (New York) Convention 
(1665), member of the Provincial Assembly of New Jersey 
(1680), Speaker of the same (1682), and Justice of Mon- 
mouth County (1683). His son, John Bowne, Jr., was also 
a member of the Provincial Assembly and was, with Richard 
Salter, Jr., among the most strenuous opponents of the Corn- 
bury faction. Obadiah Bowne, another son, was likewise of 
the Provincial Assembly and his son-in-law, Gershom Mott, 
was Sheriff (1697-98), member Provincial Assembly (1707— 
13), and expelled, as well as his brother-in-law, for opposition 
to the corrupt Cornbury. 

Through John Bowne's wife, Lydia Holmes, we tap an- 
other strong stream of sturdy ancestry. Her father. Rev. 
Obadiah Holmes, had led one of the revolts against the 
bigotry of his surroundings and had conducted a little band 
of advanced thinkers from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. 
Later, falling into the hands of his enemies in Boston in 1 65 1, 
he suffered shameful punishment at their hands, which he 
endured with the fortitude of the earlier Christian martyrs. 
Three of his sons were distinguished men : Obadiah, Jr., 
Judge of Salem County, New Jersey (1677-89); Jonathan, 
Deputy in New Jersey (1668), Justice there (1672), Deputy 
at Newport (i 690-1 707), and Speaker (1696 and 1703); 
while John, a third son, was Deputy in Rhode Island (1682- 
1705), and Treasurer (1690, 1703, and 1708-09). 

Many more instances might be cited, but already sufficient 
evidence has been adduced to enable us to file a strong brief 
for the now generally admitted theory of hereditary genius. 
There is not a trait in the broad and lovable character of 
Abraham Lincoln that we may not find foreshadowed in one 
or many of his ancestors. 



/ 



Samuel Lincoln, from deed, i December, 1649. 



^ Samuel Lincoln, from deed, 19 July, 1680. 



^n.« 



^5b^<Vf^a%«< 




MoRDECAi Lincoln, Sr., 
from will dated 3 May, 

1727. 



wo^^^ai £.^^^ 



MoRDECAi Lincoln, Jr., 
from will dated 12 Feb- 
ruary, 1735-6. 




-@ 



John Lincoln, 
from deed dated 
7 August, 1773. 




Abraham Lincoln, from deed dated 
18 February, 1780. 



d0crma^'^''j^ 



Thomas Lincoln, from marriage bond 
dated 10 June, 1806. 



j^/^ /? A ^ ^resident. ±^r< 

^>^^2<?-ti..A4/?^Q^<5^>vC^'"^*-^ cember, 1863. 



President. From a letter dated De- 



APPENDIX 

ORIGINAL AND INEDITED DOCUMENTS, 

WILLS, DEEDS, ETC., ETC., 

IN ENGLAND AND 

AMERICA 




Arms of Bird of Witchingham 



Argent, a cross patonce betiueen four martlets gu/es, a canton azure. 
Crest : Out of a coronet a demi-greyhound salient proper. 



FEET OF FINES 

[Rutland, Essex, 18 Edw. I, No. 202.] 

Final Agreement made in the King's Court at Westminster on the 
morrow of the Purification of the Blessed Mary, 18 Edward I. 
[3d February, 1289-90], Between Adam son of William de 
Lincoln of Great Jernemuthe [Great Yarmouth] and Johan his 
wife, demandants, and Walter de Wyndesore, deforciant, of 
the Manor of Codesmor with appurtenances in co. Rutland and 
of 1 messuages 27 acres of land and the half of 18 acres meadow 
and the half of 19 acres pasture and 30s. rent with appurtenances 
in Westham and Estham in co. Essex. The said Adam and 
Johan acknowledge the said Manor, etc. to be the right of 
said Walter, and for this acknowledgment fine and agreement 
said Walter grants to said Adam and Johan the said Manor, etc. 
to have and to hold to said Adam and Johan and to the heirs 
of the said Adam begotten of the body of said Johan, the rent 
thereof per annum to the said Walter for all services 40 li. And 
after the decease of said Walter the said Adam and Johan and 
their heirs shall be quit of the said rent and there shall be paid 
each year to the heirs of said Walter one rose for all services. 
And if it happen that said Adam and Johan die without heirs 
of the body of said Johan begotten then after the decease of the 
longer liver of them the said Adam and Johan the said Manor, 
etc. shall revert to the said Walter and his heirs. 

{Norfolk, H. 12 James /.] 

Final Agreement made in the King's Court at Westminster in the 
octaves of Hilary, 12 James I, between Richard Lincoln, de- 
mandant, and Thomas Lincoln and Alice his wife, deforciants, 
touching one messuage and 12 acres of pasture in Swanton 
Morley. Said Thomas and Alice acknowledge said tenements 
to be the right of said Richard, who gives therefor £\\. 



144 APPENDIX 

[Norfolk, M. 8 Cbar/es /.] 

Final Agreement made in the King s Court at Westminster on the 
morrow of All Souls, 8 Charles I, between Francis Neave, Esq., 
demandant, and Henry Lincolne, gent., and Ann Lincoln, 
widow, deforciants, touching one messuage, i garden, i orchard, 
ao acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, and 10 acres of pasture 
in Witchingham Magna. Said Henry and Ann acknowledge 
said tenements to be the right of said Francis, who gives there- 
for /41. 

\_Norfolk, M. 35-36 Elizabeth.l 

Final Agreement made in the Queen's Court at St. Albans on the 
morrow of All Souls, 2>S Elizabeth, between Thomas May, 
demandant, and Edward Rymshinge, gent., and Elizabeth his 
wife, deforciants, touching the moiety of one messuage, 200 acres 
of land, 20 acres of meadow, 14. acres of pasture, 100 acres of 
gorse and heath, aos rent and liberty of faldage for 600 sheep 
in Gyrston, Watton, Marten Carbrooke and Thomson. Said 
Edward and Elizabeth acknowledge said tenements to be the 
right of said Thomas, who gives therefor £110. 



II 

CHANCERY PROCEEDINGS 

LINCOLN V. LINCOLN 

\_Series II, 317: 45. 162 1.] 

Bill of Complaint of Anne Lincoln and Elizabeth Lincoln, 
daughters of Richard Lincoln, late deceased, being infants within the 
age of one and twenty years, by John Bird, gent., their " gardian," 
sworn II May, 1621: — 

Richard Lincoln was in his life time seised in his demesne as of 
fee of and in divers messuages, lands, and tenements in Hingham, 
of the yerely value of ^30, and having issue Edward Lyncolne, his 
eldest son, did about twenty yeres now last past for the preferment 
and advancement of the sayd Edward, settle and convey his lands to 
the use of himselfe duringe his naturall life and from and after his 
decease to the use of the said Edward Lyncolne and his heirs for 
ever. Further he did prefer and helpe the sayde Edward with many 
other guifts and benefitts of very great value and worthe, and since 
that tyme did also convey divers other lands, of the yerely value of 
fower pounds, to the use of the said Edward for his life and after his 
decease to the use of some of the children of the sayd Edward and 
their heirs. Having thus preferred Edward and his children with all 
or the greater part of his estate, and being then seised in fee of fower 
acres of land in Swanton Morley, holden of the Manor of Swanton 
Morley cum Worthey, which he lately purchased of Robert SkarfFe, 
and of twoe acres of land in Great Witchingham, holden of the 
Manor of Witchingham Magna and Longvyles, which he had lately 
purchased of Margery Dunham, the same being all or the cheifest 
part of his (remaining) estate, about twoe yeres nowe last past he did 
make his last will in wrightinge and did devise the sayd fower acres and 
two acres unto the sayd Anne and Elizabeth and their heirs. About 
the same time he, the sayd Richard Lyncolne, did surrender all his copy- 
hold premisses to the use of his sd last will. Shortly after which, about 



146 APPENDIX 

the month of January now last past, he suddenly fell sick nigh his then 
dwellinge howse, and before he could return home suddenly dyed. 

Your Orators having some notice of the sayd last will/ presently 
after his death entered into the sayd fower acres and two acres and 
became thereof seised. But soe it is, maye it please your most ex- 
cellent Majestic, that Edward Lyncolne, not satisfy ed with soe liberall 
and great preferment made unto him as aforesayd, hath suppressed 
and detayned the sayd will and refuseth to prove the same, and hath 
likewise concealed denyed ymbeasilled or otherwise suppressed the 
aforesayd surrender and divarse copyes and other wrightinges concerne- 
ing the sayd fower acres and two acres, and doth nowe give out that 
ther was noe surrender made by the sayd Richard to the use of his 
last will, for that he was surprised by sudden death before that he 
could make the same. 

Your Orators further believe that there exists some combinacon 
betwixt the sayd Edward and the Steward of the Manor, whereby 
Edward Lyncolne hath unconscionably procured himselfe to be ad- 
mitted to the sayd six acres as heir by descent, since he doth threatten 
ymediately to enter into the premisses and cleerely to ouste and 
dispossesse your subjects thereof Your Orators therefore pray that 
your Majesties gratious writt of Subpoena be yssued against the sayd 
Edward Lyncolne, commanding him att a certeyne day and under a 
certeyne payne personally to appeare before your Majesties Cort of 
Chancery, then and there to answer the premises. 

LINCOLN V. LINCOLN 

[Series //, 317 : 45. 1621.] 

Writ addressed to Robert Peck,* clerk, Robert Constable, Richard 
Humfrey and Richard Oakes, gents., for the appearance of Edward 
Lincoln, the defendant, in the Octaves of Trinity Term. Dated 
Westminster, 14 May, 19 James I. 

I Note that the will of Richard Lincoln, the father, was proved in the Consistory of Nor- 
wich (1620, fo. 36) on the 24 February next before the date of complaint, by the mother of 
complainants. They or their guardian and attorney, Bird, their uncle on the mother's side, 
could hardly have been ignorant of this fact. 

» The appearance of Robert Peck's name on this writ is very interesting. He is the 
famous parson of Hingham who, in 1638, settled with his congregation at Hingham, Mass. 
The writ was addressed to him in his capacity as magistrate. 



APPENDIX 147 



LINCOLN V. LINCOLN 



[Series //, 3 1 7 : 45 . 1621.] 

Answer of Edward Lyncolne, defendant, to the Bill of Com- 
plaint of Anne Lyncolne and Elizabeth Lyncolne, sworn 2 June, 1 9 
James I. : — 

Defendant, after taking exception to the incertainty and insuffi- 
ciency of the complaint, says his late father, Richard Lincolne, was 
in truth in his life tyme seised of & in one messuage and 3 5 acres 
of arrable meadowe & pasture grounde, being freeholde, situate in 
Hingham, and worth not more than £10 per annum, to be letten. 
This messuage and land were the inheritance of Robert Lyncolne, 
father of said Richard, and by the death of the said Robert the same 
did descend and come unto the sayd Richard Lyncolne as sonne and 
heyre of the sayd Robert. Richard Lyncolne, having thus come into 
his own, about the i6th year of Elizabeth's reign, on the occasion of 
his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward ' Rymchinge, did 
convey and assure the sayd premises unto the sayd Edward Rym- 
chinge and one Robert Cooper and their heyres, to the use of the 
sayd Richard Lyncolne and Elizabeth for the term of their lives 
and the life of the longer liver of them, and after their decease to the 
heyres of the sayd Richard uppon the bodie of the sayd Elizabeth 
lawfully begotten. By force whereof the sayd Richard and Elizabeth 
his wife were seised of the premises, Richard in tayle speciall and 
Elizabeth for terme of her life, and being so seized they had issue be- 
tween them the defendant Edward Lyncolne, their eldest son. Eliza- 
beth died, and Richard did marry and take to his second wife the 
daughter of one Hobbes, by whom he also had issue a son named 
Richard, yet living. After the death of the said second wife he did 
marry and take to his thirde wife one Dunham, widdowe, after whose 
death the said Richard did marry and take to his fourth wife one 
Anne Smale, widdowe, by whom he had yssue nowe liveinge one 
sonne named Henry and the complainants Anne and Elizabeth 
Lyncolne. Above fiftene yeres past, for the advancement of his son 
Richard in marriage with the daughter of one Foulsham, Richard 
Lyncolne did assure the said messuage and 23 acres, parcel of the 

» An obvious error for "Richard." See footnote, pp. 16-153. 



148 APPENDIX 

premises aforesayd, to the said Richard his son after the death of his 
said father, and to drawe the defendant to ioine with him in the 
said conveyance he, the father, did convey the two acres, residue of 
the sayd premises, being builded uppon with a little cottage of the 
yerely value of 40s., unto defendant and his heirs, and did give 
unto defendant £10 in money only and no more. As touching the 
fower acres and twoe acres of copyhold, Richard Lyncolne did dye 
thereof seised as alleged, and thereupon the said six acres, accord- 
ing to the custom of the Manors whereof the same bene holden, 
did descend unto defendant as son and heir. Richard Lyncolne his 
father was likewise seised of divers other messuages, howses and 
lands in Hingham, Morley Swanton, and Great Witchingham, of 
the value of ;^40 per annum, and did convey the same unto Henry 
Lyncolne his son by his fourth wife, whereby it maye appeare that 
the sonnes by the second and fourthe wife were preferred with 
liberall & lardge porcons of land, and defendant, eldest sonne and 
heyre, had only but twoe acres with a cottage — whereby it maye 
further appeare howe the sayd Richard Lyncolne was wroughte to 
disinherite defendant by the means and procurement of his latter 
wives. As touching the supposed will of the said Richard Lyncolne, 
defendant doth not knowe of any will, neither hath he any will of the 
sayd Richard, but he hath harde by reporte that Richard Lyncolne, 
by the meanes of his latter wife yet liveinge, was much laboured to 
make a will for the advancement of hir and hir children. The sayd 
Richard Lyncolne was possessed of goods to the value of j£6oOy 
and he is supposed to have willed to the sayd Anne and Elizabeth 
the some of fowerscore pounds a pece, and to have appointed unto 
them the aforesayd six acres of copyhold land. Nevertheless the 
sayd Richard did dye suddenly before any surrender of the sayd 
land was made to the use of his alledged will, and the sayd land did 
accordingly descend and come to defendant. 

LINCOLN V. GURNEY 

^Cbar/es I, L. 1 : 37. 1641.] 

Plaintiff is Henry Lincoln of Swanton Morley, co. Norfolk, 
yeoman. His Bill of Complaint is dated 13 July, 1641. 



APPENDIX 149 

Richard Lincoln and Ann his wife, father and mother of the plain- 
tiff, about 4 James I., surrendered into the hands of the Lord of the 
Manor of Swanton Morley a certain messuage called Mosses, and 1 1 
acres 3 roods of land lying in Swanton Morley, to the use of them- 
selves and the longer liver of them, and after their decease to John 
Small, son of the said Ann, and his heirs, on condition that the said 
John should pay unto Ann Lincoln, daughter of said Richard and 
Ann, j[,iOy and to Elizabeth, another daughter of said Richard and 
Ann, other £10^ payable respectively 1 and 4 years after the decease 
of the said Richard and Ann. If John Small failed to make these 
payments, Ann and Elizabeth Lincoln were to enter upon the said 
premises. About the year 1634, before the death of Ann his mother, 
plaintiff lent John Small ^40, taking as security a conditional sur- 
render of the said lands. Small failed to repay the money. Ann Lin- 
coln, daughter of said Richard and Ann, married Robert Gurney, 
one of the defendants. The money due to Ann Gurney should have 
been paid on Michaelmas day last. Elizabeth Lincoln married Wil- 
liam Gunthorpe, another of the defendants. 

Suit touching said lands and the payment of said moneys. 

Answers of Robert Gurney, gent., and Anne his wife, and of 
William Gunthorpe and Elizabeth his wife. 

They are ignorant of Complaynant's lending to John Small or of 
Small's surrender. The money was not paid by Complaynant, and 
Defendants entered as it is lawfull for them to doe. They have none 
of them been admitted and have only felled underwood. They have 
used no indirect means or combinacons. Complaynant is natural 
brother to Defendants Ann and Elizabeth and has vsed them very 
vnnaturally in deteyning money, etc. Ann Lincoln, widow of Rich- 
ard, died about the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord 3 years before 
the date of the suit. 



Ill 

WILLS (ENGLISH) 

l^rcb. Norfolk, VoL\y.,fo. 276.] 

Will of Robert Lincolne of Hingham. Dated 18 April, 1540. 
To be buried in Hingham churchyard. To my daughters Margaret, 
Rose the elder. Rose the younger, and Christian, 40 shillings each 
at 18. To my wife Johan, kine. To my son Robert Lincoln, my 
harness. To my nephew Thomas Lincoln, a coat. To my godson 
Robert, son of the said Thomas, a blanket and a bullock at 18. To 
William, son of said Thomas, a bullock at 18. To Robert Bawdwen, 
son of Hugh Bawdwen, a bullock. To my nephew Robert Lincoln, 
singleman, Elizabeth Bawdwin, wife of said Hugh, and my daughter 
Ann Lincoln, 16 acres of corn in the close called Brockelle, between 
them. To my daughters Ann and Elizabeth, sheets. Executors : my 
wife Johan and John Cowper, junior, tanner. Witnesses : Thomas 
Pynchyn, John Barnewell, tailor, Robert Lincoln my son, John 
Jessoppe, Robert Lincoln my nephew, Robert Wright and John Pye. 
Proved 5 September, 1543, by the Executrix. 

{Arch. Norfolk, Vol. XY,fo. 137.] 

Will of Robert Lincoln of Hengham, co. Norfolk. Dated 14 
January, 1555-6. To be buried in Hengham churchyard. To my 
wife Margaret, my dwelling-house, land, meadows, and pastures till 
my son Richard is 21. If said Richard die before 21 without heirs, said 
property to revert to his sisters [not named~\ and their heirs for ever. 
My executors to have the use of my tenement called Pyxtonnes, 
1 acres i rood land that was John Pytcher's, 1 acres land late Peter 
Cowper's, i rood land at Stumpe Cross in Hengham, i close called 
Broccles, till my son Richard is 21. My wife Margaret then to have 
the aforesaid tenement and land for life, with reversion to my child 
that is to be born, if it be a son, and his heirs for ever ; if it be a 
daughter said tenement and land to revert, after my wife's death, to 
my son Richard, and he to pay the said child ^^30 at 21. Mentions 



APPENDIX 151 

Bartillimew Abell. To my daughter Katherine and her heirs a tene- 
ment in Thetford at 20. To my daughter Agnes and her heirs a 
tenement in Hengham sometime Frances Portmanne's, late John 
Jessoppe's, at 20. To my son John ^5 at 21. Residuary legatee, my 
wife Margaret. Executors : wife Margaret and Robert Alberye of 
Hengham. Witnesses : Sir Henry Goodram, priest, John Baretloo, 
and John Alberye. Proved 29 January, 1555-6, by the Executrix. 

[Jrcb. Norfolk, Vol. XXIII, >. 158.] 
Will of Roger Wright of Hingham. Dated 9 February, 1 570-1 . 
To my wife Margaret all my pasture called Albries Glosses in Heng- 
ham now in possession of Thomas Dand, with lease ground lying 
within said pasture, for life, with reversion to my son Robert Wright 
and heirs for ever. To my Executors, occupation of my tenement in 
Hengham (which I bought of Walter Pyke) and 5 acres in Hengham 
(bought of William Beele) till my daughter Mary Wright is 21. To 
Richard Lyncolne, my wife's son, and his heirs for ever, my close in 
Hengham bought of Robert Bargayne. To my wife Margaret use 
of residue of my messuages, lands, and tenements both free and copy- 
hold till my said son Robert is 21. If said son and daughter die be- 
fore 21 without issue, their property to be sold, half of money arising 
from same to my wife Margaret, each child of my sister Elizabeth to 
have 20/ and Richard Lyncolne 20/ and my wife's daughter Katherine 
Brooke 20/. Residue of the money to the poor. If aforesaid property 
has to be sold, William Entwesell, my brother-in-law, to have first 
offer. To Bartholomew Gage, my servant, I2d., Agnes Bobbett, my 
servant, I2d. and Thomas Bidwell, I2d. Residuary legatee, my wife 
Margaret. Executors : wife Margaret and the said Richard Lyncolne. 
Witnesses : William Entwesell, Thomas Brooke, James Alden, and 
John Gady. Proved 2 March, 1 570-1, by the Executors named. 

\Cons. Norwich, Vol. i6zo,fo. 36.] 

Will of Richard Lincolne of Swanton Morlie, co. Norfolk, 
yeoman. Dated 3 January, 161 5-16. To be buried in the Ghurch of 
Hingham, in the midle Alley there. To the said Ghurch of Hingham 
for my burial, 10/. To the poor of Hingham, 20/. To poor of 
Swanton MorHe, 10/. To poor of Great Witchingham, 6/8. To 
Anne my wife, until such time as Henry Lincolne, my son, shall 



152 



APPENDIX 



accomplish his age of 2 1 years, all my houses, lands, etc., being free- 
hold, which I lately purchased of Thomas Lyncolne, lying in Swanton 
Morlie. Also 8 acres of free land in Hingham in a field called 
Rookwood : the said Ann to maynetaine and bringe upp the said 
Henrie Lincolne my sonne unto litterature and good education. 
Provided always that yf the said Ann shall marrie and take another 
husband, she shall then be discharged of the custodie of the said 
Henrie, and shall yerely paye into the hands of my loving friend, 
John Bird, gent., my wife's brother, and of Richard Small of Swan- 
ton Morley, the sum of 10 markes for the maintenance of the said 
Henry. Mention of William Bailie, my brother-in-law. To Henry 
Lincolne, my son, at his age of 21, all the aforesaid lands, etc.; in 
default unto Ann Lyncolne and Elizabeth Lyncolne, my daughters, 
and in default unto Richard Lyncolne, my son. To my daughters 
Anne and Elizabeth Lyncolne, each fourscore pounds. To my grand- 
child Richard Lincolne, 5/. To Sarah wife of Henry Birde, 5/. To 
my kinsman Leonard Bunn, 1/. To godchildren William Small and 
Hillarie Baihe, 2/ apiece. To godchildren Richard Parham and 
Bridget Bilbie, the same. To Charles Couldham and William Bull- 
man, 6/ apiece. To Anne Lincoln and Elizabeth Lincoln, four acres 
of copyhold land in Swanton Morley, lately purchased of Robert 
Skarff. Also copyhold in Great Witchingham purchased of Margerie 
Dunham, widow, sometymes my wyfe. Names Edward and Henry 
Bird, my wife's brothers. To kinswoman Marie Bunne, 2/. Resid- 
uary legatee and sole Executrix, my wife Ann. Supervisors : John 
Birde, Richard Small, and William Bailie. Witnesses: Marmaduke 
Ladlaye, Henry Birde, and Thomas Heroke. 

Codicil dated 2 February, 161 8-19, bequeathing further sums to 
his daughters Ann and Elizabeth. Witnesses : George Couldham and 
Thomas Hewke. Proved 24 February, 1620-21, by the relict, Ann 
Lincoln. 

\_Jrch, Norfolk, Book 17, 1 557-58, /i^. 265.] 

Will of Hugh Bawdinge of Hyngham. Dated 10 October, 1556. 
To be buried in Hingham churchyard. To Elsabeth my wife, my 
houses and lands in Hingham and Woodrising for life. To my son 
Robert Bawden and heirs, my tenements in Hingham and all the 
lands in Woodrising. To my son William Bawden, £6. 13. 4. To 



APPENDIX 153 

my son Valenten Bawden, £6. 13. 4. To my daughter Cicely Baw- 
den, ;^io. To my daughter Rose Bawden, ^^ 10. To my daughter 
Alis Bawden, ^^lO. If my son Robert die under age, said lands to 
remain to William. If my son William die under age, said lands 
to remain to Valentine. Executrix and residuary legatee: my wife 
Elsabeth. Supervisor: John Bawden. Witnesses: John Portman, 
Richard Weston, Richard Hubberd, Thomas Fytlyng. Proved 13 
June, 1558, by Executrix. 

[^Cons. Norwich, Vol. i 566-7, /o. 248.] 

Will of Richard Remchinge of Carbrooke, yeoman. Dated 12 
March, 1566-7. To my son Edward Remchinge, £10 at 11. To 
my son Henry Remchinge, ^lo in various payments till he is 21. 
To my son Richard Remchinge, ^^30 to be paid to the person to 
whom he the said Richard is apprenticed. To my son Thomas, ^^30 
at 22. To my daughter Elizabeth Remchinge, j^20 at 21 or mar- 
riage.' To my daughter Anne Remchinge, ^20 at 21 or marriage. 
To my daughter Mary Remchinge, ^10 at 21 or marriage. To my 
sister Agnes Plaforde, ^5. To my wife Elizabeth, my lands and ten- 
ements in Carbrooke or elsewhere which I had of the grant and feoff- 
ment of William Hubberd of Carbrooke for the non-payment of a 
certain sum of money. Residuary legatee and Executrix, my wife 
Elizabeth. Witnesses : Jherome Spynge, Thomas Skott, Thomas 
Moore, Edward Toogood, and Henry Montynge. Proved 9 May, 
1567, by the Executrix. 

[P. C. C. SCOTT, fo. 29.] 

Dated 14 April, 1595. I Elizabethe Remchinge of Wymond- 
ham in the countie of Norff widowe beyng weake in bodye but of 
whole and perfect memory (god be praysed therfore) do make and 

' This Elizabeth was afterward the wife of Richard Lincoln and mother of Edward, although 
the latter, in his Answer in the Chancery Suit, says that his father married Elizabeth, daughter 
of Edward Remching. This is obviously a mistake, since Edward Remching, as a minor in 
1567, could not possibly have been the father of a daughter of marriageable age in 1574, the 
year in which Richard Lincoln was married. The Chancery Proceeding should read " Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Richard Remchinge." Edward Remching, the brother, was one of the 
feoffees under the marriage settlement, and no doubt the lawyer who drew the Answer in 
the Chancery Proceeding confused him with Richard, Elizabeth's deceased father. The will 
of Elizabeth Remching, Richard Remching' s widow, shows that Elizabeth, the daughter of 
Edward Remching, was living and unmarried in 1595. 



154 APPENDIX 

ordayne this my last will and testamt in manner and forme folowinge 
ffirst I commend my soule into the hands of god my maker .... and 
I will that my bodie shalbe buryed in the churche of the towne of Car- 
brooke .... in the grave wherein my late husband Richard Rem- 
CHiNGE was layed Item I giue to the parishners of the sayed towne 
of Carbrooke my greate Bible to remayne there in the churche for 
euer Item I giue to the poore people of Carbrooke twentie shillinges 
Item I giue to John Tryndle minister of Ovington tenne shillinges 
Item I bequeathe to Mr Welles minister of Wymondham tenne shil- 
linges Allso I giue and bequeathe fortie shillinges to be bestowed in 
making vp and finishing a convenient wall and other necessaryes for 
a well to be made at the Springe called Becketts well beyng at the 
Abbey Barne Yardes and next the myll in Wymondham I bequeathe 
to Mr ffurneys precher at Set Andrewes parishe in Norwiche tenne 
shillinges Item I giue to Mr Nutte of Norwiche precher tenne shil- 
linges Item I giue to John Kett my sonne in lawe my graye nagge 
which he vse to ryde on and one siluer spoone Item I giue to Mary 
my daughter wife of the sayed John Kett my playne old greate cofer 
with one worsted gowne of my late husbandes which lyeth in the same 
Item I giue vnto the sayed Mary one payer of sheetes .... one fyne 
smocke late my sister Coldams which she gaue vnto me and one cup- 
board which standeth in the hall of the hovse of the saysd John Kett 
where he nowe dwelleth in Wymondham. . . . Item I giue vnto 
Sarah Kett one of the daughters of the sayed Mary Kett one saye 
gowne with a ueluet cape one booke called Beza his testament and 
twentie shillinges in money Item I giue vnto Mary Kett one other 
of my sayed daughter Mary Kett her daughters one payer of course 
sheetes .... one litle prayer booke and twentie shillinges in money 
Item I giue vnto Elizabeth one other of the daughters of my sayed 
daughter Mary Kett one other payer of course sheetes .... one litle 
prayer booke and twentie shillinges in money Item I giue vnto 
Judith one other of the daughters of my sayed daughter Mary Kett 
one other payer of course sheetes .... one litle prayer booke and 
twentie shillinges in money Item I giue vnto Susan an other of the 
daughters of my sayed daughter Mary one other payer of course 
sheetes .... one litle prayer booke and twentie shillinges in money 
Item I giue vnto Priscilla an other of the daughters of my sayed 
daughter Mary one other payer of course sheetes .... one litle prayer 



APPENDIX 155 

booke and twentie shillinges in money Item I giue vnto Lidea an 
other of the daughters of my sayed daughter Mary one other payer of 
course sheetes one posuet brighte within and without one litle prayer 
booke and twentie shillinges in money Item I giue vnto euery one 
of the sayed children of my sayed daughter aboue the sayed parcells 
before giuen one pewter disshe and one siluer spoone Item I giue 
vnto my daughter in lawe Elizabeth Remchinge my sonne Edward 
Remchinge his wife my gowne which cam from London which is of 
stvfFe one silke grogorane kirtle one stammell pettycoate with a red 
silke frynge all my wearinge lynnen and all the other lynnen which I 
haue besydes whereof my mynde ys that parte be distributed to Eliza- 
beth Remchinge and Mary Remchinge daughters of my sayed sonne 
Edward Item I giue vnto Edmond Remchinge sonne vnto my sayed 
sonne Edward one goblett with a couer bothe parcell guilte which was 
my fathers .... my greate copper cawdron one greate brasse pott with 
the marke of a key on the syde thereof which was my fathers .... 
and all my bookes whatsoeuer not bequeathed Item all the residue 
of my pewter I giue to the children of my sayed sonne Edward Item 
I giue vnto Richard Remchinge my grandchilde and sonne vnto the 
sayed Edward the featherbed which I lie on ... , and one white couer- 
lett with braunches Item I giue vnto Thomas Remchinge one other 
of the sayed Edward his sonnes my bedstead which standeth ouer the 
parlor where I lie Item whereas Richard Remchinge my sonne hath 
receyued of one John Reston to my vse the somme of fortie poundes 
.... my mynde ys that the sayed Richard .... shall fourthwithpaye 
the sayed money to myne executor. . . . Item I do freelie forgiue 
vnto all my sonnes and to my sonne in lawe John Kett all svch debtes 
as they do owe me Item I giue moreouer vnto euery one of my sonne 
Edward his children one siluer spoone The Residue of all my goodes 
I giue to my sayed sonne Edward and Elizabeth his wife and I 
make the sayed Edward my executor chardginge him to performe this 
my testament and last will accordinge to my true meaninge as he will 
awnswere the contrary at the generall daye of Judgment And I do 
make Thomas Leverington gentleman my supravisor herof to whome 
for his paynes I giue tenne shillinges in gould. Elizabeth Rem- 
chinge. T'(?j//^«j Thoma Weld the marke of Richard Cadwold John 
Kett. Proved 24 May, 1595, by John Theaker, notary public, proc- 
tor for Edward Remchinge, son and executor. 



156 APPENDIX 

[C(7». Norwich, Vol. \6i g,fo. 204.] 

Will of Edward Remchinge of Thetford. Dated 4 Nov., 16 
Jas. I. To be buried in St. Cuthbert's church, Thetford. To Edmond 
Remchinge my son and heir all my messuages, tenements, orchards, 
with their appurtenances, wherein I now dwell in Thetford, on condi- 
tion that he pay my daughter Mary within one year after the decease 
of Elizabeth my wife £iOy my daughter Bridget within two years 
after the decease of said Elizabeth ^^2,0, and my daughter Martha 
within three years after the decease of said Elizabeth ;^io. To my 
son Thomas Remchinge, gown. To John Wardroper my kinsman, 
clothing. Residuary legatee and executrix, my wife Elizabeth. Wit- 
nesses: Charles Eden, Robert Reder. Proved 4 May, 1 619, by the 
executrix. 

[P. C. C. Pecke,fo. 153.] 

Will of Robert Pecke, Minister of the word of God at Hingham, 
CO. Norfolk, dated 24 July, 1651. I give to Thomas, my son, and 
Samuel, my son, and to their heirs for ever, my messuage wherein I 
now dwell situate in Hingham, with all thereto belonging; also one 
inclose now divided called the Lady close, containing about 8 acres; 
also one pightell at the end thereof containing 2 acres, for the pay- 
ment of my legacies. To Robert Pecke, son of my son Robert de- 
ceased, 20 It at his age of 23. To John Pecke, son of the said Robert 
deceased, 10 /i at his age of 22. To Benjamin Pecke, youngest son 
of the said Robert deceased, loli at his age of 22. To the children 
of Anne Mason, my daughter, wife of Captain John Mason of Sea- 
brooke, on the river Connecticot in New England, 40 li to be divided 
equally among them, and to be sent to my son John Mason to dispose 
of it for their use. To my son Joseph, 14 // yearly, during his life, to 
be in the hands of my sons Thomas and Samuel as it shall arise out 
of my houses &c., and I commit my said son Joseph to their care. To 
the children of Thomas and Samuel, my sons, 5 // a piece at their ages 
of 2 1. Tomynowwife Martha Pecke, 40//. To the poor of Hingham, 
5 li. Exors : Thomas and Samuel Pecke, to whom also I leave the 
residue of my goods for the payment of my debts. If I die in Hing- 
ham I desire to be buried in the churchyard, near to Anne my wife de- 
ceased. Signed : Robert Pecke. No witnesses. Proved 10 April, 1658, 
by Samuel Pecke, one of the executors named, with power reserved. 



IV 

REGISTERS OF HINGHAM, NORFOLK 

1600 to 1645 ' 

1600 Richard son of Edward Lincoln bapt. 10 September 
Annes, daughter of Hugh Lincoln, bapt. 15 March 

1601 William Lincoln buried [date fadedl^ June 
Robert, son of George Lincoln, bapt. 27 September 
Robert Lincoln and Annes Bore [?] married 1 8 October 

1603 Robert Lincoln and Annes Harman marr: 7 November 
Alice, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 1 9 February 

1605 Judith, daughter of Hugh Lincoln, bapt. 18 August 
Richard Lincoln and Alice Howse marr: 20 October 

1606 Sarah, daughter of Edward Lincoln, bapt. 13 April 
Anthonie, son of George Lincoln, bapt. 17 August 
William, son of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 2 November 
John, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 14 November and 

buried 7 Dec. 

1607 Mary, daughter of Richard Lincoln, bapt. i November 
Elizabeth, dau. of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 20 Dec. and buried 

21 January following 

1608 Richard, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 13 November 
Abigail, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 20 November 

1610 John, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 20 May 
Anna, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 12 August 
Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 17 February 

161 1 John, son of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 15 March 
WiUiam Godfreye and Ann Lincolne marr : 2 November 

1612 Grace, daughter of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 14 June 

1 6 13 Peter, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 31 July 

1 6 14 Margaret, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 12 June 
Robert, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 2 October 

> All dates are Old Style. 



158 APPENDIX 

1 6 14 Alice Lincoln buried 19 July 

Robert, son of Richard Lincoln, buried 5 October 

1615 Ann, daughter of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 11 October 
Robert, son of Edward Lincoln, bapt. 19 November 
Margaret, daughter of Robert Lincoln, buried 1 5 July- 
Margaret, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 3 March 

161 6 Richard Lincoln buried 21 October 

1 617 Mary, daughter of Richard Lincoln, bapt, 16 July 
Katherine, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. i February 
John Lincoln buried 23 February 

161 8 Mary, daughter of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 30 May 
Thomas Balding and Alice Lincolne married 14 August 

1 619 Daniel, son of Edward Lincoln, bapt. 28 March 
Pieke, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 2 May 
Abigail, daughter of Robert Lincoln, buried 7 June 

1620 Robert, son of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 27 August 
Adam, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 28 January 
Robert, son of Robert Lincoln, buried 25 November 
Richard Lincoln buried 23 December 

1 62 1 William, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 10 January 

1622 Samuel, son of Edward Lincoln, bapt. 24 August 
Margaret, daughter of Richard Lincoln of Norwoode, bapt. 

16 February 

1623 Robert, son of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 28 June 

1624 Robert Lincoln buried 2 April 

1625 Amye, daughter of Edward Lincoln, bapt. 11 December 
Ann, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 19 February 
Richard Lincolne and Frances Reynolds married 14 August 
Elizabeth, wife of Richard Lincoln, butcher, buried 3 May 
Margery Lincoln, widow, buried 7 June 

Edinye Lincoln, widow, buried 22 July 

Amy, wife of Hugh Lincoln, buried 9 September 

Hugh Lincoln buried 21 September 

1626 Richard, son of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 9 April 

William Lincolne and Elizabeth Wellam marr: 14 September 
James Baldinge and Alice Lincolne marr : 23 January 
Amy, daughter of Edward Lincoln, buried 17 June 
Agnes Lincoln, widow, buried 1 1 July 



APPENDIX 159 

1627 Arthur Cogman and Dorothy Lincolne marr: 6 November 

1628 Richard, son of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 13 April 

1630 George, son of Robert Lincoln, bapt. i August 
William Lincolne and Susan Wryghte marr : 30 January 

1 63 1 Susan, daughter of William Lincolne, bapt. 26 May 

1632 John Lincolne and Alice Staveleye marr: 11 October 

1633 John, son of John Lincoln, bapt. 27 May 

1634 Bridget, daughter of Robert Lincoln, bapt. 7 September 

1635 Robert, son of John and Alice Lincoln, bapt. 26 October 

1636 Edward Lincolne and Mary Porter marr : 19 May 

1637 Richard, son of Richard and Mary Lincoln, bapt. 4 March 
John Woodcock & Elizabeth Lincolne marr: 31 August 
Henry Barnewell & Ann Lincolne marr: 18 October 

1638 Dorothy, daughter of John & Alice Lincoln, bapt. 23 No- 

vember 

1639 Susan, daughter of Robert & Ann Lincoln, bapt. 17 No- 

vember 
Richard Lincoln, butcher, buried 15 October 
Frances Lincoln, widow, buried 28 October 
Edward Lincoln, the elder, buried 1 1 February 

1640 Susan, daughter of John & Alice Lincoln, bapt. 31 January 
Richard Lincoln, brewer, buried 15 August 

1 641 Daniel, son of Robert & Martha Lincoln, bapt. 5 September 
Susan Lincoln buried 15 April 

1642 \JVhole year missing] 

1643 Rebecca, daughter of Edward Lincoln, bapt. 28 May 
Mary & Rebecca, daughters of Edward Lincoln, buried 12 

July 

1644 Ann, wife of Robert Lincoln, buried 28 December 
Mary, daughter of Edward Lincoln, bapt. 5 January 

1645 Richard, son of Pyke Lincoln, bapt. 9 March (1644-5) ^^^ 

buried 27 March 
Mary, daughter of Richard Lincoln, bapt. 18 December 



REGISTERS OF 

SWANTON MORLEY, NORFOLK 

1548 to 1675 

BAPTISMS 

569 Margaret Lyncolne bap: 19 March 

571 Bridget Lyncolne bap: 16 Aug: 

572 Cecilia Lincolne bap: 19 Oct: 

576 Thos: son of John Lincolne, bap: 27 June 
578 Will: son of John Lincolne, bap: 15 Dec: 

580 Robt: son of John Lincolne, bap: 17 Nov: 

581 Franciscus, filia \jic~\ John Lincolne, bap: 4 Feb: 
• filius 

583 Anna, dau: of John Lincolne, bap: 5 Oct: 

585 Rich: son of John Lincolne, bap: 21 Feb: 

588 Cath : dau: of John Lincolne, bap: i Sept: 

590 Susan, dau: of John Lincolne, bap: 29 March 

595 Xpoferus, spurius Marie Lincolne, bap: 21 March 

597 John, son of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 26 February 

599 Ann, dau: of Rich: Lincolne, bap: 6 May 
Edmund, son of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 10 June 

600 Thos: son of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 28 Dec: 

602 Will: son of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 28 Sept: 
Eliz: dau: of Rich: Lincolne, bap: \no date] of Nov: 

603 Robt: son of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 19 Feb: 

605 Henry, son af Rich: Lincolne, bap: 23 June 

606 Rich: son of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 2 Feb: 
610 Ann, dau. of Thos: Lincolne, bap: i June 
612 Alice, dau: of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 5 July 
615 Henry, son of Thos: Lincolne, bap: 26 Dec: 

^6^2 Ann, dau: of Eliz: Lincolne, bap: 9 July 



APPENDIX i6i 

1637 Rich : Lincolne, son of Rich : Lincolne & Mag his wife, 

bap: 27 [?] Jan: 

1640 Will: son of Rich: Lincolne & Margaret his wife, bap. 16 

June 
Henry, son of Henry Lincolne & Mary his wife, bap: 18 

Aug: 

1 641 Rich: son of Henry Lincolne, bap: 1 Nov: 

1 642 Anne, dau : of Henry Lincolne, bap : [«o date] of March 

1643 Thos : son of Rich : Lincolne, bap: [no date] April 

1645 Mary, dau: of Henry Lincolne, bap: 21 Dec: 

1646 John, son of Rich : Lincolne, bap : 18 April 

1647 Rich: son of Henry Lincolne, bap: 3 May 

1648 Dorothea, dau: of Henry Lincolne, bap: 17 Feb: 
1650 Thos: son of Henry Lincolne, bap: 19 Oct: 

1652 Will: son of Rich: Lincolne & Jane his wife, bap: 19 Oct: 
Joseph, son of Henry Lincolne & Mary his wife, bap: 14 
Oct: 

1660 Charles, son of Rich: Lincolne, bap: 23 Sept: 

1 66 1 Mary, dau: of Henry Lincolne, bap: 17 Nov: 

1669 Eli : dau : of Thos : Lincolne & Marg : his wife, bap : 1 4 Feb : 
1 67 1 Margaret, dau : of Thos : Lincolne & Margaret his wife, bap : 

17 \_or 27, almost illegible] 
1673 Rich: son of Thos: Lincolne & Margaret his wife, bap: 26 

Feb: 
1675 Rich: son of Thos : Lincolne & Margaret his wife, bap : 15 

Jan: 

MARRIAGES. 1538-1675 
1665 Thos : Lincolne & Margaret Howlet were married 10 Oct : 

BURIALS: 1538-1675 

1557 John Lincolne buried 7 March 

1558 Will: Lincolne buried 27 Nov: 

1559 Henry Lincolne buried 25 Sept: 
1570 Margaret Lincolne buried 9 April 

1589 Will: Lincolne buried 17 Sept: 

1590 Eliz: wife of John Lincolne, buried 28 March 



i62 APPENDIX 

1593 Eliz: Lincolne, widow, buried 3 Dec: 

1607 Rich: son of Thos: Lincolne, buried 22 May 

1608 Eliz: dau: of Thos: Lincolne, buried 22 April 
1 6 14 Thos: Lincolne, buried 17 Dec: 

1616 Henry, son of Thos: Lincolne, buried 15 Aug: 

1630 Robert Lincolne buried 6 Feb: 

1636 Anne Lincolne, wife of Rich: Lincolne, buried 30 Dec: 

1643 Anne, dau: of Henry Lincolne, buried 28 April 

1645 Rich: son of Henry Lincolne, buried 29 June 

1649 Will: Lincolne, son of Rich: Lincolne, buried 5 July 

Margaret, wife of Rich: Lincolne, buried 22 Feb: 
1660 Rich: Lincolne was buried 22 Jan : 

1662 Eliz : dau : of Henry Lincolne [?] \^MS. almost illegible] buried 
5 June 

Henry, son of the widow Lincolne [?] [very illegiblel buried 
27 June 
1664 Mary, dau: of Henry Lincolne, buried 7 Sept: 

Mary, wife of Henry Lincolne, buried 5 Jan: 
1667 Henry Lincolne, Sen', buried 22 July 

1 67 1 Jane Linckold [?] , dau : of Thos : Lyncold [?] buried 1 7 Dec : 

1672 Margaret Lincolne, soluta, buried 28 July 



VI 
CARBROOKE PARISH REGISTER 

BAPTISMS: 1541-1600 

1549 Anne Rimshing daughter of Richard Rimshing, 13 Sep- 

tember. 

1550 Marye Rimshinge daughter of Richard Rymshinge, 14 No- 

vember. 

1 55 1 Richard Rimshinge son of Richard Rimshing gent, 28 Au- 

gust. 
1553 Thomas Rimshinge son of Richard Rimshinge, 22 January. 

1555 Thomas Knight son of Robert Knight, 5 January. 

1574 Henrye Linckone son of Richard Lincolne, 1 November. 

1579 Mary Rimshing daughter of Edward Rimshing, 22 July. 

1580 Edmond Rimshinge son of Edward Rimshinge, 19 June. 
1582 Richard Rimshinge son of Edward Rimshinge, 20 January. 

MARRIAGES: 1539-1600 
1599 John Murrell and Agnes Lynkon, 25 November. 

BURIALS: 1539-1600 

1 55 1 Thomas Knight son of Robert Knighte, 12 March. 

1553 Johane Knight daughter of Robert Knight, 28 January. 

1556 Thomas Knight son of Robert Knight, 17 September. 
1567 Richard Remching was buried the 24th daie of Marche. 
1579 Mary Remsching buried the 5th of August. 

1 584 Elizabeth Remching daughter of Richard Remching, 24 April. 

^■^ Elizabeth Remching, widow of Richard, who died 1595 and in her will desired 
to be buried with her late husband in Carbrooke Church, does not appear to have been 
buried there. 



i64 APPENDIX 

A REGISTER OF PERSONS ABOUT TO PASS INTO 

FOREIGN PARTS 

l^StaU Papers in Public Record Office."] 

These people went to New England: with William: Andrewes: 
of Ipswich M' of the John: and Dorothey : of Ipswich and with Wil- 
liam Andrewes his sone. M'. of the Rose: of Yarmouth. 

April) . . . {'The examination of F)r2inQ\s: Lawes: bo'n in Nor- 
wich in No'ff and their liuingWeauear/ aged nd 

Liddea : his Wife/ageed/49 yeares/With one Child Marey: and 1 
sarauants, Samuell: Lincorne: aged 18' yeares/ and Anne: Smith: 
aged 19 yeares ar desirous to passe for New England to inhabitt/// 

I Sic In the record, but, unless he were three years old at the time of his baptism (which 
is possible), he was only fifteen at the time of the emigration. 



VII 

ACCOUNT OF BAPTISMAL FONT FROM 
HINGHAM CHURCH 

Trinity Parish, 

Vicarage of the Chapel of the Intercession, 

Audubon Park, New York City. 

Dear Sir, — Mr. Bartow has sent your letter to me and I hasten 
to send the enclosed account. I am very glad that you have seen 
the beautiful church in Cohasset where is the font about which you 
inquired, and I thank you very much for your kind words concerning 
the building, of which all of us who had a share in rearing it are per- 
haps pardonably proud, and I am therefore greatly pleased to know 
that you will say something of the font in your Lincoln article. 

Hingham Church is one of the most beautiful in Norfolk; it is 
large — seating 800, with a splendid Chancel 50 or more feet deep. 
It was evidently monastic, but escaped any serious damage. Crom- 
well broke the windows and much carved work including the font, 
but left enough so that it has been possible to restore things cor- 
rectly. Dr. Wodehouse, the former Rector, a man of taste and large 
means, did much good work, and so has the present Rector. But 
with changing times Hingham does not always find it easy to keep 
up this most interesting and to Americans Historic Church. I was 
greatly interested in an effort which Dr. Upcher hopes to make to 
restore some beautiful carved stone sedilia on the south side of the 
Chancel. It would cost |iooo to do it. Could n't we help that along 
and perhaps make it a monument to Lincoln in the place of his 
family origin ? I should gladly act as Treasurer and would give my 
share to such a fund. Will you tell me if the matter appeals to you? 

If in any way I can further aid you, will you give me the pleasure 

of doing so? 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Milo H. Gates, 

Ficar in 'Trinity Parish. 

Dec. 16, 1907. 

Mr. J. Henry Lea. 



i66 APPENDIX 

ENCLOSURE 

When we were building the church at Cohasset, originally the first 
Precinct of Hingham, Mass., I was desirous to have in the new church 
something from the old church in Hingham, England, because the 
early settlers of Hingham in New England were either from the 
old town or the surrounding region. And more especially because 
my own ancestor, Stephen Gates, had come from Hingham, England, 
to Hingham, Mass., in 1638 in the ship " Diligent," sailing from Ips- 
wich, England, and by a curious coincidence I had been called from 
Ipswich, New England, to be Rector of Cohasset, originally part of 
Hingham, just ten generations later. I wrote of this to the Rev. 
A. C. W. Upcher, Rector of Hingham, and he and his vestry very 
kindly gave me what remained of the original font of the Hingham 
church, in which, as I found, many of my ancestors and of the early 
settlers of Hingham, Mass., were baptised. After some study we re- 
solved to restore the font, leaving the pedestal untouched, to what was 
its original form. A drawing was made by Mr. Bertram G. Goodhue 
of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson of Boston, and in pieces of old 
Caen stone of about the age of the pedestal (the font is fourteenth- 
century work). The work was executed by John Evans & Co. of 
Boston ; so that the font in my Cohasset church is no doubt as like 
as possible to that in which Abraham Lincoln's ancestors were chris- 
tened. 

I had the pleasure of visiting Hingham last summer and being 
the guest of Mr. Upcher and of preaching in old St. Andrew's 
Church. The church and the town have I should think changed little; 
the church not at all, having been most faithfully preserved by Dr. 
Upcher, who is a most intellectual man as well as a fine type of the 
English university clergyman. While there I copied the enclosed 
from a monograph on St. Andrew's Church by J. Barham John- 
son, M. A. 

FROM J. BARHAM JOHNSON, M. A. 

" Happily, a part of its shaft has escaped destruction, sufficiently 
large and with sufficient of its enrichment remaining to enable an 
architect to reproduce it. It was enriched by deeply sunk canopied 
and crotcheted niches, under which were formerly statues on pedes- 



APPENDIX 167 

tals. There were crotcheted pinnacles at the angles. Its bowl had 
panels enriched with tracery or possibly foliage ornaments. It was 
not usual in the fourteenth century to introduce figures. The font 
was raised on three steps, and probably there was incised on the rises 
of the lowest step this Greek anagram, which reads either from left 
to right or right to left : 'NI^ON ANOMHMA MH MONAN OMN.' 
Translated, * Wash (away) my transgressions and not my face only.' " 



VIII 
WILLS (AMERICAN) 

[^Registered Philadelphia, Book E, page 370.] 

Will of MoRDECAi LiNCON of Amity in the County of Phila- 
delphia, being sick. Dated 11 February, 1735. Pro. 7 June, 1736. 
To son Mordecai Linkon half of my land in Amity. To son Thomas 
Linkon the other half with this proviso that if my present wife Mary 
should prove with Child at my decease and bring forth a son, the said 
land shall be divided into three parts: Mordecai to have the lower- 
most or S. E. part, Thomas the middle, and the posthumes the upper 
part. To daughters Hannah and Mary a certain piece of land at 
Matjaponia,' already settled on them by deed of gift. To son John 
Lincon a piece of land in the Jerseys containing 300 acres. To two 
daughters Ann and Sarah 100 acres at Matjaponia in the Jerseys 
which my executor is to sell and divide the money between them. To 
wife Mary the residue of estate with privilege of a home till children 
are of age to enable her to bring up all my children, and she to be 
executrix. Friends and neighbors Jonathan Robeson and George 
Boone to be Trustees. Witnesses: Israel Robeson, Solomon Coles 
{affirmed), John Bell {sworn). 

[Registered Philadelphia, Book G, page 194.] 

Will of Abraham Lincon of Springfield, Blacksmith, being sick. 
Dated 15 iVpril 1745. Proved 29 April, 1745. To son John the land 
and appurtenances (part of plantation whereon I now dwell) on N. E. 
side of road to Chester, but if he die under age the same to go to son 
Abraham. To son Jacob residue of plantation on S. W. side of road, 
he to build a brick house for son John within ten years, 17 feet square, 
etc. To son Mordecai, if he returns to this province within 7 years, 
the messuage or Tenement which I purchased of William Clayer 
in Philadelphia city, otherwise the same to son Isaac, he paying to 
Mordecai if he should afterward return £^. To daughter Rebecca 

' Machaponix. 



APPENDIX 169 

my other messuage adjoining the first, purchased of Humphrey Class 
and John Claytor, if she die the same to go to son Isaac. To daughter 
Sarah certain furniture. To son Abraham £1,6 lent him some time 
since. Residue after maintaining son John till 14 years of age, to be 
divided between Abraham and Isaac. Friends Robert Taylor of 
Marple and Joshua Thompson of Ridley to be Executors. Witnesses; 
Benanuel Lownes, John Morton, Iza: Pearson. Inventory made 30 
April, 1745, by John Davis and John Hall £2,'^s" 16" 10. 



Accounts filed 7 June, 1746. 




Advance on sale £1^ "10 5^. 




Paid to Isaac Lincon 


1 18 ''19 "6 


" " Abraham Lincon 


129" 7"3>^ 


" " Sarah Lincon in goods 


11 "14 "0 


" " Isaac Lincon balance 


5 ''12 ''014: 



\Registered Philadelphia, Book X'^, page 313.] 

James Carter of Abington, gentleman. Dated 22 July, 1793. 
Proved 15 Aug., 1795. Eldest daughter Hester Parry, youngest 
daughter Elizabeth Carter, sister Sarah Ferril, godson Carter Parry, 
brother William, friend Garret Dungan, friend John McGraudy, 
son in law Rowland Parry, sole Executor. Witnesses Jas. Glen, 
Thomas Livezey. 

\Registered Philadelphia, Book V^, page 127.] 

Joseph Rush of Philadelphia. Dated i May, 1796. Proved 16 
January, 1799. Wife Elizabeth Rush. My nine children namely — 
Elizabeth Allen, Mary Tatem, William Rush, Catherine Cochrin, 
Susanna Rush, Benjamin Rush, Esther Rush, Sarah Rush, and 
James Rush. Executors : Wife Elizabeth, friends James Irwin & 
Capt. Robt. Bethell. 

DELAWARE COUNTY PROBATE RECORDS 

Moses Lincoln: administration of estate granted to Jacob Lincoln 
II March, 1835. George and Michael Lincoln, Sureties. Net estate 
^1372.66. 

Michael Lincoln : administration of estate granted to Jacob Lincoln 
6 January, 1848. George Lincoln and Robert Plumstead, Sureties. 



lyo APPENDIX 

William Lincoln: administration of estate granted to Elizabeth P. 
Lincoln, 23 October, 1856. 

Will of Jacob Lincoln of Darby. Dated 2-21 -1848. Proved 5 
December, 1848. To wife Eliza & son William all money in hand 
or due me at my death. To son William the Plantation in Upper 
Darby on which he resides containing 21 acres & my lot in Darby 
bought of David Levis containing 1 8 acres. To wife the Plantation 
we live on in Derby containing 24 acres, during her life & afterward 
to son William, remainder to William. Executors: wife Eliza & son 
William. Witnesses: John Jackson, Geo. S. Truman. 



IX 

PENNSYLVANIA RECORDS 

SWEDES' CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA 

John Linkhorn and Elizabeth O'Neal 8 October 178 1' 
John Hart and Elizabeth Lincoln 7 July 1791 
Jacob Lincoln and Mary Taylor ii April 179a 
Moses Lincoln and Barbara Kinch 19 March 1795 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA 

James Carter and Rebecca Lincoln 7 March 1763 

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA 

Daniel Lincoln and Mary Medley 6mo 2nd. 1742* 

ST. MICHAEL'S AND ZION CHURCH, 
PHILADELPHIA 

1 77 1. Samuel Pastorius married Sarah Lincon November 28 

^ , ^ ^ Married byjas. Haslet, Esq. 

William Lincoln, Delaware County I ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ December 

Elizabeth P. Phipps, Doe Run 

CHRIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA 

CHRISTENINGS 

1735 August 3 Mordecai, son of Abraham & Rebecca Lincoln 

aged 15 months. 
1749 February 1 1 John son of John and Catherine Lincoln born 

Dec. 17 1749. 

I See also N. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record for 187a, p. 71. 

« See N. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, April, 1872, p. 69, also 148. 



172 



APPENDIX 



MARRIAGES 



1746 December 31 Isaac Lincoln and Mary Shute 

1750 September 19 Joseph Rush and Rebecca Lincoln 

1763 July 17 James Gregory and Margaret Lincoln 

1806 May 19 Benjamin Lincoln and Ann Cowan 

KINGSSESSING SWEDES' CHURCH REGISTERS, 
PHILADELPHIA COUNTY 

RECORDS DATE FROM 1750 

BAPTISMS 

Catarina Linkhorn at Kinsessing, born 16 June, bapt. 30 June 1751, 

father Jacob Linkhorn, mother Anne Linkhorn; Godfather 

Olive Parlin, Godmother Mary Rambo. 
Anna Linckhorn born 8 August, bapt. 23 September 1753, father 

Abram Linckhorn, mother Ann Linckhorn; Godfathers Moses 

Cox, Abraham Jonse^ Godmothers Susanna Smith, Brigitta 

Camel. 
John son of Jacob and Ann Linkhorn, born i February 1756, bapt. 

28 March 1756. Sureties John Justice, Robert Fawseth and 

Elizabeth Justice. 
Rebecca Lincoln born 11 December 1757, bapt. 27 March 1758, 

parents Jacob and Anne Lincoln. Sureties Andrew Bonde, 

Mons Rambo and Catherine Cammel. 
Mary daughter of Jacob and Ann Linkhorn, born 17 August, bapt. 

2 October 1763. Sureties John Walton, Ludwig Stump, Mar- 

geth Campbel and Ann Yockom. 
Jacob son of Jacob and Ann Linkhorn, born i April, bapt. 1 5 May 

1766. Sureties David Robinson and Elizabeth O'Neal. 

MARRIAGES 
Thomas Linnon \sic\ and Ann Rhodes by Licence 24 May 1753. 

' Compare with the Abraham Jones of Hull whose daughter Sarah married Mordecai Lin- 
coln of Hingham, Mass., before 1686. It seems possible that this was a descendant of one 
of Sarah Jones's brothers visiting his relatives in Pennsylvania. See Cognate Families, p. 89. 



APPENDIX 173 

BURIAL GROUND 

Jacob Lincoln departed this life 5 June 1769 aged 44 years. 
Barbara Lincoln, wife of Moses Lincoln died 28 February 1804 aged 

Ann Lincoln died 8 February 1819 aged 94, wife of Jacob. 

Moses Lincoln died 22 February 1835 ^g^^ 79- 

Moses Maris Lincoln died 22 January 1839 aged 19 years 1 1 months 

10 days. 
Jacob Lincoln died 18 November 1848 aged ^2- 
Michael Lincoln died 16 October 1844, aged 43 years 4 months 24 

days. 
Abram Lincoln died 19 October 181 1 aged 60, also Elizabeth, 

daughter of Abram and Elizabeth Lincoln aged 20 months. 
Elizabeth Lincoln died 14 February 1855 aged 83. 



"PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE" FOR YEAR 1758 

March 16, 1758, No. 1525, James Coultas, Sheriff, sells property 
late the estate of Isaac Lincoln in the Northern Liberties. 

October 5, 1758. Among the representatives in the Assembly 
either elected or already in : For Berks Co. inter alia Thomas Lin- 
coln, Benjamin Boone,' 

Philip Price of Kingssessing in his account book 1 2-1 5-1787, 
mentions Rebecca Linkhorn and her sister Ann Bowman. Fre- 
quently mentions Jacob Linkhorn. 

I From notes of Wm. John Potts of Camden, N. J., to Gilbert Cope (1889 and 1891). 



X 
MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS 

FROM A BOOK IN POSSESSION OF 

HARRISON H. LINCOLN 

IN THE HANDWRITING OF JAMES BOONE 

Abraham Lincoln born i8 October 1736, 7 p. m., died 31 Janu- 
ary 1806 

married 10 July 1760 
Anne Boone born 3 April 1737, 5 p. m., died 4 April 1807 

Mary born 15 September 1761 

Martha born 25 January 1763 

MoRDECAi born 11 January 1765, died 12 September 1822 

James born 5 May 1767, died i860 aged 93 years 7 months 6 
days 

Anna born 19 April 1769 

Rachel born 24 March 1771, died 19 July 1775 

Phebe born 22 January 1773 

Anne born 19 October 1774 

Thomas born 12 March 1777, died 29 December 1863 

John born 21 October 1779, died 4 April 1864 

Mordecai Lincoln son of Abraham and Anne 

married 5 May 18 12, 8 p. m. 
Julian Mayberry born 5 February 1780, died 6 March 1858 at 
Allentown 
Rachel born 6 May 18 13 
Ann born i August 18 14, died 4 August 18 14 
Abraham M. born i August 18 14, died 8 August 1815 
Margaret born 21 July 18 17, died 13 August 181 5 [^error] 
Margaret born 12 May 1820, marr. Bartholomew Barto 
7 December 1841 



APPENDIX 175 

Julian Mayberry may have been a widow, dau. of George & Mar- 
garet Boone. 

Thomas Lincoln son of Abraham and Anne 

married 
Alice Dehaven [daughter] of Abraham born 25 June 1770, died 
29 December 1836 
Their daughter Martha marr. Joseph Kaub, died 12 October 
1858, aged 46 years 10 months 20 days. Grave is 6th in 5th 
row, Exeter. 

John D. Lincoln [son] of Thomas and Alice died June 1895 

married 24 January 1837 
Sarah Gilbert daughter of Henry born 4 Jan. 181 1, died 15 April 
1895 

Amelia born 28 March 1838 

Alfred born 21 April 1839 

Harrison H. born 28 July 1840 

Elizabeth born 20 November 1841 

John born 7 March 1843 

Richard born 5 December 1844 

Martha born 12 December 1846 

Anna born 16 February 1849 

Mary born 24 April 1852 

Oscar born 16 February 1855 

David J. Lincoln son of James died 10 April 1886 at Birdsboro' 

aged 70 
George Hughes died 18 August 1795 531'd. 
Martha widow of do. died 28 May 1798 56th (dau. of James and 

Mary Boone) 
Robert Henton died 11 November 18 15 
Charity widow of do. died 4 November 1821 
James Lewis Sr : died 11 April 181 5 
Samuel Robeson [son] of Moses died 11 October 1821 
Matthew Brooke died 15 October 1821 
Thomas Lee died 20 October 1830 
Mary wife of do. died 19 August 1823 84th (dau. James and Mary 

Boone) 



176 APPENDIX 

FRIENDS' MEETING, EXETER, PENN., RECORDS 

Marriage of William Boone and Sarah Lincoln reported orderly 
3-26-1748. 

Ann Lincoln, formerly Boone, makes acknowledgment for marriage 
out 8-27-1761 : 

Ann Lincoln (relict of Abraham Lincoln) and Daughter of James 
Boone, Departed this life on the 4th. day of the 4th. Mo. 1807, 
Aged 69 years, 11 mo., 21 d., 14 h. 10 m., and was interred at 
Exeter on the 6th., ye 2d. of the week. (Born 2-3-1737.) 

Abraham Lincoln died i mo. 31, 1806 in his 70th. year. 

William Boone, son of George and Deborah, was born 9-1 8-1 724. 

William Boone, wife Sarah and children Mordecai, WilHam, Mary, 
George, Thomas, Jeremiah and Hezekiah, certificate to Fairfax 

4-5 [?] -1769- 

TALLMAN FAMILY BIBLE 

FROM MISS MARY JOSEPHINE ROE OF GILBERT, OHIO 

Ann Lincoln, daughter of Mordecai Lincoln, was born 8 March 

1725 and died 22 December .' She married 20 October 174-, 

William Tallman who was born in Rhode Island 25 March 1720, 
and died 13 February 1791 In Rockingham County, Virginia. 

Children of William and Ann (Lincoln) Tallman 

Patience bo. 5 Oct. , died 23 February 1761 

Benjamin bo. 9 Jan. 17 — 
Mary bo. 22 May 1747, died aged 4 years 
Sarah bo. 19 Dec. 1749, died 6 Aug. 1770 
Thomas bo. i Sept. 17 — , died 15 May 1753 
Mary bo. 11 Feb. 175-, died aged 4 years 
Thomas bo. 12 May 1757, died aged 6 weeks 

William bo. — Sept. , died aged 1 1 months 

Ann bo. 10 May , died aged 18 months 

Hannah bo. — Sept. , died aged 3 weeks 

Anna bo. — July 176-, died aged 15 months 

* Missing dates are worn off the margin of Tallman Family Bible. 



APPENDIX 177 

Benjamin Tallman, son of William and Ann (Lincoln) Tallman, 
was born in Penna., 9 Jan. 1745, and died in Ohio, 4 June 1820. He 
mar. 9 Nov. 1764, in Penna., Dinah Boone, dau. of Benj : and 
Susannah Boone who was born in Penna., 10 May 1749 and died in 
Ohio, 25 July 1824 

Children of Benjamin and Dinah (Boone) Tallman 

William bo. 27 Jan. 1766, died 1850 
Patience bo. 20 Oct. 1767, died 21 July 18 16 
Sarah bo. 11 Apr. 1769, died 3 June 1844 
James bo. 8 Apr. 1771, died 1846 
Samuel bo. 18 Nov. 1772 
Thomas bo. 8 July 1774, died aged 20 years 
Benjamin bo. 20 May 1776, died same month 
Annah bo. 9 May 1777, died 5 Sept. 1778 
Annah bo. 15 Dec. 1778, died aged 88 
Nancy bo. 20 May 178 1, died aged 45 
Susannah bo. 6 Feb. 1783, died aged 42 
Mary bo. 20 Nov. 1784, died 1849 
Benjamin bo. 10 Nov. 1786, died about 1833 
John bo. 10 Aug. 1788, died 1857 



CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, TAX LISTS 

1720 150 acres surveyed for Mordecai Lincoln on French Creek, 
Oct. 21. 

1720 Mordecay Lincoln near ye Branches of the ffrench Creek 

and Brandywine Tax 3/ 

1 72 1 Mordecay Linerwood, Skoolkill " 5/ 

1722 Mordecai Lincoln, Nantmeal " 2/6 

1724 Mordecay Lincoln, Coventry " 4/4 

1725 Mordecay Lincoln, Coventry " 3/ 

1729 Abraham Lincon Springfield " 14/ 

1730 Abraham Lincon " " 12/ 
1732 Abraham Lincon " " 10/ 

1734 Abraham Lincon " " 8/ 

1735 Abraham Lincon " " 8/ 



178 APPENDIX 

1737 Abraham Lincon Springfield Tax 7/6 

1739 Abraham Lingkorn " " 7/10 

1740 Abraham Lincoln " " 7/6 

RECORDS OF DELAWARE COUNTY, 
PENNSYLVANIA 

Michael Lincoln & ux. Rebecca of Darby, 14 Dec. 1843 convey to 
certain trustees for Methodist Church purposes ^ acre of land, 
part of premises David Thomas & wife Hannah granted for 
School purposes 4-2-1735 [? 1835] ^ conveyed by School 
Directors to Lincoln 4-1 2-1 843. 

Jacob Lincoln & ux. Eliza and Michael Lincoln & ux. Rebecca of 
Darby to George Lincoln July 2, 1835. Heirs & legal repre- 
sentatives of Moses Lincoln, deed., for Messuage & 12 acres in 
Darby, the same conveyed by Isaac Lloyd & ux. Ann, and 
Hugh Lloyd & ux. Susanna to Moses Lincoln Dec. i, 1786. 

William Lincoln & ux. Elizabeth P. of Upper Darby to Robert M. 
Smith, April 2, 1849, ^^^ messuage & 21 acres in Upper Darby. 
David Beaumont & ux. Abigail to Jacob Lincoln Mar. 27, 
1846, who devised same to his son William. 

Azariah Dickinson, Jerman Dickinson, Thomas Lincoln & ux. 
Priscilla, Joseph Taylor & ux. Margaret to Joseph Lincoln 
Aug. 17, 1 801. Recites Lewis Jerman & ux. Mary to Margareta 
Dickinson Oct. 16, 1769 for 3 acres in Radnor & died intest., 
leaving issue viz : Azariah & Jerman Dickinson, Priscilla wife of 
Thomas Lincoln, Margaret wife of Joseph Taylor & Elizabeth 
wife of Joseph Lincoln, conveys said land containing 2% acres. 

The sd. Joseph Lincoln died intest. leaving widow Elizabeth & 
children, viz: — Margaret wife of Major McVeagh, Mary wife of 
Jeremiah Stephens, John & Abel Lincoln. 

Elizabeth Lincoln, Major McVeagh' & ux. Margaret, and Jeremiah 
Stephens & ux. Mary of Chester Co. and John Lincoln & ux. 
Francina K. and Abel Lincoln of Cecil County, Maryland, to 
Ann Siter of Radnor, June 18, 1825 for the above named 3^ 
acres. 

' Father of Wayne McVeagh (?). 



APPENDIX 179 

In Orphans' Court, Sept. 24, 1856. Petition of Elizabeth P. Lin- 
coln, widow & administratrix of William Lincoln, sets forth that said 
Wm. Lincoln died intestate, leaving no issue and as next of kin his 
mother Eliza Lincoln, now wife of Anthony J. Jordan, George Lin- 
coln, an uncle, and the children of Michael Lincoln, a deceased uncle, 
viz: Isaac & Jacob Lincoln, Anna Eliza, wife of Daniel Trites, 
Rebecca, wife of James Hutchinson, and Elizabeth Lincoln a minor 
under 21 ; asks for order of sale, etc. 

LEASE AND RELEASE January 15 and 16, 1729-30. Tho- 
mas Williams of Freehold, New Jersey, Monmouth County, yeo- 
man, to Abraham Lincon of Springfield in the County of Chester, 
in Pennsylvania, yeoman, of 300 acres in Springfield for ;^320 
(now Delaware County, Pa.). \_Recorded 22 August ^ ^7^Sy ^^^^ ^y 

page SS^'l 

This was purchased by Williams 17 and 18 November, 1729, from 

heirs of Isaac Taylor. [_Book Z, page 339.] 

Abraham Lincoln devised the land to son John and if he died 
then to son Abraham. The latter did inherit and devised to daughters 
Rebecca and Hester, of whom the latter died young and the other 
married James Carter of Philadelphia, merchant, who sold 143 acres 
to Abraham Garrett in 1772. \_Book X, page 114.] 

[Note from Gilbert Cope dated 12-4-1886.] 

of 

DEED 13 April, 1772, James Car ter-aftd- City of Phila., merchant, 
& Rebecca his wife to Abraham Garrett of Goshen, yeoman. 

Recites title from Robert Taylor to son Isaac, whose heirs sell to 
Thomas Williams, who sells to Abraham Lincon of Springfield the 
said 300 acres. Abraham devised a part of said land to son John, but 
if the latter died in his minority, it was to go to Abraham, another 
son. 

John did die and Abraham inherited,who,by will dated 17 February, 
1747, directed that the plantation should be equally divided between 
his two children, Rebecca Lincon and Hester Lincon, when they be- 
came of age. (Will registered at Philadelphia.) Hester died in her 
minority and without issue and her share descended to Rebecca. 



i8o APPENDIX 

James Carter and wife Rebecca for £600 convey the land, 1435^ 
acres 26 perches, in Springfield. [_Book X, page 114.] 

[Filed in Dept. of Internal Affairs ofPenn. at Harrisonburg.'^ 

Know all men by these presents that I Mordecai Lincoln of Cov- 
entry in the County of Chester, for and in consideration of the sum 
of ;^500 etc., do forever quitclaim to William Branson, Merchant, 
of Philadelphia, his heirs and assigns, one full and undivided third 
part of the one hundred and six acres of land, according to articles of 
agreement made between Samuel Nutt of the one part and the said 
Mordecai Lincoln of the other part, together with all and singular 
the Mynes and Minerals, Forges, Buildings, Houses, Lands and Im- 
provements whatsoever thereunto belonging. Dated 14 December, 
1725. Signed, sealed and deHvered 

{Signed) Mordecai Lincoln [Sear\ 
in presence of 

Jn° Robeson 

Jane Speary 

[Recorded at Trenton, N. J.'\ 

DEED of Abraham Lincoln, blacksmith, of Monmouth County, 
Province of New Jersey, dated 20 February, 1737, conveys to 
Thomas Williams 240 acres of land near Crosswick in the County 
aforesaid, being the same granted to him from Safety Boyden by 
Deed 11 February, 1722, and also 200 acres conveyed to him from 
Abraham Vanhorn, 15 March, 1725. The consideration for both lots 
being £^<^o and, every year thereafter, forever, upon the feast of St. 
Michael the Archangel, one penny of good and lawful money. 

\_Phila. Ad. Book H, page 73, No. 70.] 

Mem°: That on the 17th day of February 1770, Administration 
of the Estate of Joseph Millard deceased, was granted to Mary 
Millard, Inventory to be Exhibited on or before the 17th day of 
March next and an account on or before the i8th day of February 
1 77 1. Given under the Seal of the Register General's Office at 
Philadelphia 

Pr. Benjamin Chew Reg^ Gene" 



APPENDIX i8i 

\Phila. Deed Book D^, page 136.] 

Mary Rodgers of Exeter in the County of Philadelphia, executrix 
of Mordecai Lincon her deceased husband, appoints her son-in-law 
William Tallman of Amity Township her attorney to sell 100 acres 
on Matjaponia in East Jersey. Acknowledged before George Boone 
Jan. 17, 1742. 

{Signed) Mary Rogers. 
Witness Roger Rogers 

[^Phila. Deed Book D^, page 146.] 

DEED of William Talman and wife Anne, of Amity Township, 
Phila. County, to James Abraham of Perth Amboy, for j/^40, 100 
acres land at Macheponix, County of Middlesex, East Jersey. 

(Signed) William and Ann Talman. 



XI 
DEEDS 

[Reading, Book i , page 535].' 

This Indenture made the 29th day of March in the year of our 
Lord 1773 between Mordecai Lincoln of Exeter Township in Berks 
County and Province of Pennsylvania, Yeoman, and Mary his wife of 
the one part & Mary Rogers of the town of Reading in the County 
and Province aforesaid, widow, of the other part. Whereas by certain 
Indentures of lease and release dated the 19 and 20 days of February 
171 8, made between Tobias Collet, Citizen and Haberdasher of Lon- 
don, Daniel Quain of London and Henry Goldney of London, linen 
draper, of the one part & Andrew Robeson then of Roxboro in the 
County of Philadelphia, Yeoman, of the other part. That the said 
Tobias Collet, Daniel Quain and Henry Goldny for ye consideration 
in the said Indenture mentioned, granted and confirmed unto the said 
Andrew Robeson a certain tract of land lying on the east side of ye 
River Schuylkill then in Philadelphia County but now in Berks 
County aforesaid Bounded and described as follows [description] and 
a certain tract of 600 acres on ye west side of ye Schuylkill river, the 
said two tracts to be holden by ye said Andrew Robeson his heirs and 
assigns under the yearly quit rent of one beaver skin on the first day 
of March as by ye said recorded Indenture in Book fF. Vol. 4 page 
118 may at large appear — And the said Andrew Robeson being 
so seized of the said premises dyed, did by his last will and testament 
bearing date the day of Anno 17 19, give unto his third 

son Jonathan Robeson the above described 1000 acres of land with 
the appurtenances and Whereas Andrew Robeson eldest son and heir 
at law of said Andrew Robeson the testator and by a Deed Poll under 
his hand and seal duly executed for ye consideration therein men- 
tioned did grant release quit claim and confirm to the said Jonathan 
Robeson all the said 1000 acres of land with the appurtenances to hold 
to him the said Jonathan Robeson his heirs and assigns forever, as 
by the said recited Deed, dated ye loth day of January 1726, may 
appear. And whereas by certain Indentures of Lease and Release 

' Extracted by Rev. J. M. Early of Reading. 



APPENDIX 183 

Tripartite made between Jonathan Robeson and Elizabeth his wife 
of the one part, Mordecai Lincoln of the second part (the said Jona- 
than Robeson having some time before sold the above described tract 
of 1000 acres of land to ye said Mordecai Lincoln, father to Mor- 
decai Lincoln, party hereto, but no writing was made to him, the said 
Jonathan Robeson, to convey the same) and Thomas Millard of the 
third part. The said Jonathan Robeson & Elizabeth his wife and 
Mordecai Lincoln the father by the said Indenture dated ye 6 and 
7 days of October 1729, for the consideration therein mentioned 
did grant and confirm the said 1000 acres of land to the said Thomas 
Millard in Fee. And the said Thomas Millard & Barbara his wife 
by Indentures of Lease and Release bearing date the 9 and 10 of May 
A. D. 1730, did grant and confirm the same 1000 acres of land and 
premises unto the said Mordecai Lincoln the Elder in Fee, he being 
so seized thereof dyed^ who by his last Will and Testament dated 
22nd. day of February 1735 did give and bequeath unto his son 
Mordecai Lincoln, party hereto, one third part of said 1000 acres of 
land to be struck off the east end or side of the said described 1000 
acres of land which hath since been amicably done, to hold to him the 
said Mordecai Lincoln, his heirs and assigns forever, as in and by the 
said in part recited Will registered in the Register's Office at Philadel- 
phia June 7, A. D. 173 1, reference being thereunto had as may at large 
appear. Now this Indenture witnesseth that the said Mordecai Lin- 
coln and Mary his wife for and in consideration of the sum of ^50 
Lawful money of Pennsylvania to them in hand paid by the said Mary 
Rogers the receipt whereof etc. etc. bargain sell alien release and con- 
firm unto the said Mary Rogers and her heirs and assigns a certain piece 
or part of the above mentioned third part of the above described 1000 
acres bounded and described as follows — Beginning at a post set for 
a corner in a line of said Mordecai Lincoln's land and a line of land of 
the late Thomas Lincoln, but now Michael Ziester's, containing one 
acre of land with outhouse and outbuildings improvements water- 
courses etc. unto the said Mary Rogers her heirs and assigns etc. 

{Signed) Mordecai Lincoln \_Sear\ 
Mary Lincoln her mark M 

The year and day first above written 
in the presence of 

Rebecca Nagel 

Henry Christ. 



1 84 APPENDIX 

Before me the subscriber, one of the Justices of the Peace in and 
for the said County, on the 29 day of March 1773 came the within 
named Mordecai Lincoln and Mary his wife and acknowledged the 
within Indenture. 

{Signed) Henry Christ. 

In immediate connection follows this : — 

Indentured to Thomas Lincoln in payment of £^^0 to Mary 
Rogers, May 4th. 1774. Witnesses William Tallum and H. Christ. 
Compared May i8th 1774. 

'Then follows this: — 

This Indenture made the 3rd day of May 1779 between Mary 
Rogers administratrix of all and singular the goods and chattels rights 
and credits which were of Thomas Lincoln late of the town of Read- 
ing in the County of Berks, yeoman deceased, at the time of his death, 
who died intestate, of the one part and Henry Vanderslice of the same 
place. Esquire, of the other part — Whereas Mordecai Lincoln and 
Mary his wife by Indenture under their hands and seals Dated March 
29 1773 reciting etc., did confirm unto the said Mary Rogers or her 
heirs and assigns a certain piece or parcel of land situate in the Town- 
ship of Exeter in the County of Berks aforesaid, bounded and de- 
scribed as follows \jame as in first deed^ Whereas the said Mary 
Rogers by Indenture dated May 4th 1774, did grant etc. to Thomas 
Lincoln (in his life time) \Recorded in Book i, page 535, Reading J^ 
Upon her Petition an order of sale granted June 10, 1776 "for pay- 
ment of debts, maintenance & education of the younger children of 
said intestate granted to sell at public vendue" — Sold the same to 
Henry Vanderslice for ^3 1 lawful money of Pennsylvania. Reported 
to Court and confirmed April ist. last past subject to a yearly quit- 
rent as mentioned in the first Deed 

(Signed) Mary Rogers 

Sealed and delivered in the presence 
of Henry Christ J. P. 

ffit. : — Colinson Read 

Acknowledged May 4, 1779 

Recorded and compared July 8, 1779 

Know all men that I Henry Vanderslice in consideration of ^50 
lawful money of Pennsylvania to me paid by Mary Rogers grant 



APPENDIX 185 

to her, her heirs and assigns etc. the one acre etc. dated May 4th 

1779. 

{Signed) Henry Vanderslice. 

Wit. : — Henry Christ 
Collinson Read 
Acknowledged May 4th 1779 
Recorded and compared July 8, 1779. 

This indenture made the seventh day of August in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy three Between John 
Lincoln of the County of Augusta and Colony of Virginia of the 
one Part and Abraham Lincoln of the County of Augusta and Colony 
aforesaid of the other part witnesseth that the said John Lincoln for 
and in consideration of the sum of five Shillings Current Money of 
Virginia to him in hand paid by the said Abraham Lincoln at or be- 
fore the Sealing and Delivering of these Presents the Receipt whereof 
he doth hereby Acknowledge hath Granted Bargained and Sold and 
By these Presents doth Grant Bargain and Sell unto the said Abra- 
ham Lincoln and to his heirs one Certain Tract or Parcel of land 
Containing two Hundred and ten acres Lying and being in the 
County of Augusta on linvel's Creek Being Part of 1200 acres 
Granted to Mckay Duff Green & Hite by Patent bearing date the 
26th day of March 1739 and was by them Conveyed to Robert 
MacKay by deed of lease and release bearing date the 19th and 
20th days of June 1746 and Recorded in the County Court of Au- 
gusta and was by the said Robert Mckay Devised to Zachariah 
Mckay Moses Mckay Robert Mckay and James Mckay by his last 
Will and Testament dated the 7th day of October 1746 and Re- 
corded in the County Court of Augusta. And Six Hundred acres part 
of the Twelve hundred acres was conveyed by the said Zachariah 
McKay Moses McKay Robt McKay and James McKay unto the 
said John Lincoln by deeds of lease and release bearing date the 21st 
and 22nd days of June 1768 and Recorded in the County Court of 
Augusta and bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning at a white oak 
in the line of the Original Grant on the west side of Linvel's Creek 
& a line of the same south 31 degrees and 81 poles to two Black 
oaks south 65 p. East 384 Poles to the Creek Near a Sycamore & 
thorn by said Creek thence down with the same North 10 east 17 
Poles & North 60 east 30 poles to a walnut corner of Isaac Lin- 



1 86 APPENDIX 

coin's North 54 west 240 Poles to two small black oaks thence North 
31 east 16 poles to a white oak and Black oaks on the old line with 
the same North 65 p West 130 Poles to the beginning Corner and 
all houses Buildings and orchard ways Waters Water-Courses Profits 
Commodities Hereditaments and Appurtenances whatsoever to the 
said Premises hereby granted or any part thereof Belonging or in any 
wise appertaining and the reversion and reversions, remainder and re- 
mainders Rents Issues and Profits thereof To have and to hold the 
lands hereby conveyed and all and singular other the Premises hereby 
Granted with the Appurtenances unto the said Abraham Lincoln, 
his Executors, Administrators and Assigns from the day before the 
date hereof for and during the full Term and Time of one whole 
year from thence next ensuing fully to be Compleat and ended Yield- 
ing and Paying therefor the rent of One Pepper Corn on Lady Day 
next if the Same Shall be lawfully Demanded to the Intent and Pur- 
pose that by Virtue of these Presents and of the Statute for Trans- 
ferring Uses into Possession the Said Abraham Lincoln may be in 
Actual Possession of the Premises and be thereby enabled to Accept 
and take a Grant and Release of the reversion and Inheritence thereof 
to him and his heirs. In witness whereof the said John Lincoln hath 
hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and year first above written. 

John Lincoln [6*^^/] 

Signed sealed and delivered in the her 

presence of ReBECKAH R LinCOLN [i^d"^/] 
Josiah Davidson '"^^•'^ 

his 

Cornelius B Briant 

mark 
her 
Ann B Briant 

mark 

This was followed, 12 August, 1773, by Deed of Release from 
same John and Rebecca to Abraham Lincoln, as above. 

COUNTY COURT OF AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA 

DEED of John Lincoln of Augusta County, Virginia, to Abra- 
ham Lincoln of 210 acres of land for five shillings current money 
of Virginia, dated 7 August, 1773. 



APPENDIX 187 

LEASE from John Lincoln of Augusta County to Isaac Lin- 
coln of same for 215 acres of land for five shillings current money, 
dated 11 August, 1773. 

DEED of John Lincoln and Rebecca his wife, of land sold 
to Abraham Lincoln, (as above,) dated 12 August, 1773. 

RELEASE from John Lincoln and Rebecca his wife, of land 
to Isaac Lincoln, (as above,) dated 12 August, 1773. 

The above Deeds, all that could be found in this Court, were noted as above by Miss 
Frances Trumbull Lea from the Original Records. The dates as given are the correct 
ones ; compare Century Mag., March, 1887, vol. xxxiii, pp. 810-81 1. 

Extracted 19 July, 1908. 



DEED OF ABRAHAM AND BATHSHEBA LINCOLN 

This Indenture made the Eightenth day of Feberuary in the 
Year of our Lord one thousand and seven hundred and Eighty Be- 
tween Abraham Lincoln of the County of Rockingham and State 
of Virginia and Bershaba his wife of the one part and Abraham Bran- 
nem Henry [sic] Michal Shanks and John Reuf of the County and 
State aforesaid of the other part witnesseth that for and in consid- 
eration of the sum of five Thousand Pounds current money of Virginia 
in hand paid unto the said Abm Lincoln By the said Abm Bran - 
man Henry [sic] Michal Shanks - and John Reuf [sic] at or before 
the sealing and Delivery of these presents the Receipt whereof they 
doth hereby acknowledge and thereof doth Release acquit and Dis- 
charge the said Abm - B faflman- Michal Shanks and John Reuf his 
heirs and assigns by these presents he the said Abm Lincoln hath 
granted Bargained sold Aliened and Confirmed and by these presents 
doth Bargain sell alien and Confirm unto the said Braneman - Shanks 
-g ^ - Reuf and theire heirs and assigns for ever on certain Tract of land 
containing two hundred and fifty acres Being apart of twele hundred 
acres granted to McKay Duff Green and Hite By patent bearing 
Date the twenty sixe dayes of March 1739 and by them conveyed 
to Robert McKay by Deed of Lease and Release bearing date the 
Nineteenth and twentieth Dayes of June 1 746 and by the said Robert 



1 88 APPENDIX 

McKay Devised to the aforesaid Zachariah McKay Moses McKay 
Robert McKay and the aforesaid McKayes conveyed to John Lin- 
coln six hundred acres of the aforsaid land by Deed of Lease and 
Release bearing Date the twenty second day of June 1768 and John 
Lincoln conveyed apart of this within mentioned two hundred and 
fifty acres to Abraham Lincoln and Tunis Vanpelt Thos. Bryan and 
Holton Muncey conveyed the rest the said land to Abram Lincoln 
lying and being on the North side of Linvils Creek Beginning at a 
locust stake and walnut stump on the North side of Linvils Creek 
thence along the old line South thirty seven Degrees West seventy 
eight Poles to a black oak corner to Tunis Vanpelt North fifty five 
and a half Degrees West one hundred and twenty four poles to a white 
oak on said line: South forty two Degrees West one hundred and 
four Poles to a whit oak South East thirty Poles to a white oak and 
two sapplins North seventy six Degrees East seventy six Poles near 
to a white oak South twenty five Degrees East forty one Poles to a 
locust stake North thirty six Degrees East fifty Eight Poles to two 
smal Hickorys South fifty five ^ Degrees East one Hundred and 
Thirty six poles to the Creek near sycamore and thorn thence down 
the Creek the several courses to a walnut to his br Isaacs line North 
fifty four Degrees West two hundred and forty poles to two small 
white oak North thirty one Degrees East sixteen poles to a black 

oak saplin on the old line 

with all the Houses Buildings Orchards Ways Water Water courses 
Profits commodities hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever to 
the said Premises hereby granted or in any part thereof Belonging or 
in any wise appertaining and the Reversion and Reversions Remainder 
and Remainders Rents Issues & Profits thereof and also all the 
Estate Right Title use Trust Property or claim or Demand whatso- 
ever of him the said Abraham Lincoln of In and to the said Prem- 
ises and all Deeds evidences and Writings Touching or in any wise 
concerning the same to have and to hold the land hereby conveyed 
and all and singular other the premises hereby Bargained and sold 
and every part and parcel thereof with their and Every of their ap- 
purtenances unto the said Abm Bran man Hen ry [sic~\ Michal Shanks 
-OtI kI John Reuf their heirs and assigns for ever to the only proper 
use and Behoof of them the said - Breneman Michal Shanks and Reuf 
and of his heirs and assigns forever and the said Abraham Lincoln 



APPENDIX 189 

and Bashaba his weif for themselves theire Heirs and Assigns by 
these Presents Abm Lincoln and his weife at the 

time of the sealing and Delivery of these Presents is seized of a 
good sure perfect and Indefeasable Estate of inheritance In fee simple 
of and In the said premises Hereby Granted and he Hath good 
Power and lawful and absolute right and authority to grant and con- 
vey the same to the said Abm Braneman - Michael Shanks Henry - 
Sha-n-k-s— and John Reuf in manner and form aforesaid and that the 
premises now are and so for ever here after shall remain and be free 
and Clear of and from all former and other Gifts Grants Bargains 
Sales rights and titles of Dowers Dower Judgments executions Titles 
Troubles charges and Incumbrances whatsoever made done Com- 
mitted or suffered by the said Abm Lincoln and Bathsheba his wife 
or any other person or persons whatsoever the assessments hereafter 
to grow due and payable to the Collector for the time being for the 
use of the Commonwealth of Virginia for and in respect of the said 
Premises only Excepted and for prized and the said Abm Lincoln 
and Bathsheba his wife and there Heirs all and singular the Premises 
hereby granted with the appurtenances unto the said i^bm Braneman 
Michal Shanks and John Reuf His heirs and assigns against them the 
said Abm Lincoln and Bathshaba his wife and their heirs and all and 
every other Person Persons whatsoever shall and will Warrant and 
for Ever Defend by these Presents and Lastly that the said Abm 
Lincoln and Bathshabe his wife and there heirs and Every other 
Person or Persons and theire Heirs any thing having and claiming 
In the Premises herein before mentioned or intended to be hereby 
Bargained and sold shall and will from time to time and at all times 
hearafter at the reasonable Request and at the proper cost and charges 
in the Law of them the said Breneman - Shanks and Rouf his heirs 
or assigns make do and Execute or Promise to be made done and 
Executed all and every such further and other Reasonable act and 
acts thing or things Conveyances and assurances for thare further 
Better and more Effectual Conveying and assuring the Premises 
aforesaid with their and every of their appurtenances unto the said 
Abraham - Branim a-n— H enry - Michal Shanks and John Reuf his \_altered 
from their\ Heirs and assigns as by the said Abraham Lincoln his 
heirs or assigns or their Counsels Learned In the Law shall be Rea- 
sonable advised Devised or Required. In Witness Whereof the said 



iQO APPENDIX 

Abraham Lincoln and Bathsheba his wife Hath Hereunto set theire 
hands and seals the Day & Year first above written 

Abrm Lincoln [6"^^/] 
Batsab Lincon [6*^^/] 

Signed and Delivered 
In Presence of 
Charles Mair 
Solomon Mathews 
George Chrisman 

At a Court held for Rockingham County the 26th day of June 
1780. This Deed of Bargain & Sale from Abraham Lincoln & Ber- 
sheba his wife to Michal Shanks was proved by the Oath of Charles 
Maier & George Chrisman & by the Solemn Affermation of Salomon 
Mathews the witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded by the 
Court 

Pef^ Hog C. R. C. 

Rockingham County to wit: — 

The Commonwealth of Virginia to Daniel Smith Thomas Hewit 
and Henry Ewing Gentelmen Greeting Whereas Abram Lincoln and 
Barbara his wife by their certain Indenture of Lease and Release 
[sic~\ Bargain and Sale bearing date the 18 Day of February 1780 
for the Consederation therein mentioned did give, grant bargain sell 
aliene release & Confirm unto Michael Shanks a certain tract of land 
containing 50 acres and whereas Barbara the wife of the sd Abraham 
Lincoln is unable to travel to our sd. County Court of Rockingham 
to be privately examined apart from her said husband whether she is 
willing to reHnquish her right of Dower to the land in the said Deed 
mentioned as the Law in that case directs. Therefore Know ye that 
we give power and authority to you the said Danl Smith Tho. Hewet 
& Henry Ewing to go to the House of the sd. Abraham Lincoln and 
there to examine the sd. Barbara privately & apart from her said hus- 
band, whether she is willing to relinquish her right of Dower to the 
land in the said Deed mentioned & whether she doth the same of her 
own free will without any force threats, or compulsion of her said hus- 
band & whether she be willing that her acknowledgment shall be re- 
corded with the said Deeds and that you certify the same distinctly 
to the Justices of our said County Court of Rockingham and that you 



APPENDIX 191 

have there the said Deed together with this writ, which we send you. 
Witness Peter Hog Clerk of our sd. Court at the Court ho. the 8th. 
Day of Sept. 178 1 in the sixth year of the Commonwealth 

Pef^ Hog. 

By Virtue of the within writ to us — Thos. Hewit & Henry Ewing 
directed we did personally on the 24 Day of Septr. 1781 go to the 
house of the within named Abraham Lincoln and did there privately 
and apart from her husband Abr Lincoln [j/V] examine Barshaba his 
wife whether she was willing to relinquish her right of Dower to the 
Land sold by her said husband to Michael Shanks who declared & 
acknowledged that she freely & voluntarily relinquished the same 
without the Force threats or Compulsion of her said husband, and 
that she desired the said Deeds together with this relinquishment 
of Dower by her made should be recorded in the County Court of 
Rockingham All which we do hereby certify to the Justice of the 
said County Court. Given under our hands & Seals this 24 Day of 
Septr 1 78 1 

Thos. Hewit [iS**?^/] 
Henry Ewin [iS'^*^/] 

At a Court held for Rockingham County the 24 Day of Septem- 
ber 178 1 This Commission with the privy Examination of Bershebe 
the wife of Abraham Lincoln was returned & ordered to be recorded 
by the Court 

Pet^ Hog, C. R. C. 

A Copy from Original Deed. 
Teste, 

D. H. Lee Martz, C/erk. 
12 August, 1908. 

SHIPLEY DEEDS 

DEED from " Thomas Dougherty of the County of Charlotte " 
to " Robert Shipley Jur. of the County of Bedford," dated loth 
May, 1769, witnessed by John Irvin, Abraham Irvin, Michael Pre- 
wit, James Pruit, and Thos. Watkins, and recorded July 27th, 1769, 
in Deed-Book " C," pages 350-351, in the Clerk's Office of the late 
County Court of Bedford County, conveys "one certain track or 



192 APPENDIX 

parcel of Land situate lying and being in the County of Bedford on 
both sides of falling River and on the Lower side of Little falling 
River and bounded as followeth " \_ Here follow the courses and dis- 
tances']y " containing by estimation two hundred and sixty two acres 
be the same more or less." 

DEED from "Thomas Dougherty of the County of Charlotte" 
to "Edward Shipley of the County of Bedford," dated loth May, 
1769, witnessed by John Irvin, Abraham Irvin, Michael Pruit, James 
Pruit, and Thos.Watkins, and recorded July 27th, 1 769, in Deed-Book 
" C," pages ^S'^-2S3-> ^^ ^^^ Clerk's Office of the late County Court 
of Bedford County, Virginia, conveys " one certain track or parcel of 
Land containing by estimation nine hundred acres be the same more 
or less Lying and being in the County of Bedford on both sides of 
Phelps' creek and bounded as followeth" [Here follow the courses and 
distances'] . 

DEED from " Robert Shipley Jun. of the County of Bedford " 
to " Samuel Walker of the same County," dated 14th August, 1772, 
witnessed by Thomas Watkins, Samuel Walker, William Walker, 
and Samuel Clay tor, and recorded August 24th, 1772, in Deed-Book 
" D," pages 376, 377, 378, in the Clerk's Office of the late County 
Court of Bedford County, Virginia, "in consideration of the sum of 
five Pounds three shillings and six Pence current money of Vir- 
ginia," conveys "one certain Parcel or Dividend of Land containing 
Thirty acres by estimation, be the same more or less lying and be- 
ing in the County of Bedford on the North branches of falling River 
adjoining to the said Walkers lines and is bounded as followeth " 
[Here follow the courses and distances'] , " the same being a part of 
two hundred and sixty two acres granted to Thomas Daugherty by 
Pattent bearing date at Williamsburgh the fifth day of June one 
thousand seven hundred and sixty five and by him conveyed to the 
aforesaid Robert Shipley." 

DEED from " Robert Shepley of Bedford County and Collony 
of Virginia" to "Thomas Marshall of the County of Charlotte & 
Collony affiaresaid " [Note — This Deed is also signed by " Rachel 
Shepley"] — dated 22d August, 1777, witnessed by William Mason, 



APPENDIX 193 

Richard Womack, James Pruett, and William Marshall, and recorded 
February 23d, 1778, in Deed-Book " F," pages 69-70, in the Clerk's 
Office of the late County Court of Bedford County, "in considera- 
tion of the sum of twenty pounds," conveys "one certain Tract or 
parcel of Land containing Two hundred and fifty acres situate and 
lying in the sd. Bedford County on both sides of Phelpeses Creek " 
\_General description of the tract given in deed^ but not the courses and 
distances~\ . 

DEED from " Robert Shipley of Russel parrish and County of 
Bedford and Sarah his Wife " to " Daniel Mitchel Jun. of the same 
Parrish and County," dated 30th day of April, 1771, witnessed by 
Richard Stith, Daniel Mitchel, Elisha Pruit, Jno. Rogers and Harry 
Terrell, and recorded June 25th, 1771, in Deed-Book "D," pages 
86-87, ^^ th^ Clerk's Office of the late County Court of Bedford 
County, in the State of Virginia, "in consideration of the sum of 
Thirty eight pounds current money of Virginia," conveys " one cer- 
tain Track or parcel of Land containing by estimation one hundred 
and sixty four acres be the same more or less " \_General description 
of the tract given in deed, but not the courses and distances^ . 

The foregoing are correct Abstracts of the Deeds therein referred 
to. The records and papers of the late County Court of Bedford 
County have been transferred by law to the Office of the Clerk of 
the Circuit Court of Bedford County, Virginia. Given under my hand 
this 19th day of September, 1908. 

C. C. Keeth, 

Deputy Clerk of Bedford Circuit Court of 

Bedford County, Virginia. 

LETTERS CONCERNING DEEDS 

FROM MISS MARY JOSEPHINE ROE 

Gilbert, Ohio, September 28, '08. 

J. Henry Lea: 

Dear Sir, — It occurs to me that you as genealogist may naturally 
wish to know my authority for certain dates and names added in 
record of the Lincoln mailed you recently. 



194 APPENDIX 

About fourteen years ago I went to Berks County, Pennsylvania. 
My purpose was twofold : to gather matter for a private family gene- 
alogy I was preparing at the time; to locate and visit homestead 
farms of my great-great-grandfathers, Benjamin Boone and William 
Tallman, also that of Benjamin, son of the latter, and especially to 
learn year the Tallmans moved to Virginia. In my undertaking I 
looked over quite a number of old deeds, several of which were 
very curious. 

A family owning a part of Lincoln lands and living near by very 
courteously permitted me to examine several which they held. A 
certain one of these, made 1769, attracted my attention particularly. 
1 only regret I did not make much fuller and verbatim notes from it 
in the interest of history. My recollection is, it was a quitclaim deed 
made by the children and heirs of Mordecai Lincoln, whose will was 
proven 1736, to establish right of posthumous son Abraham through 
his father's will. It described John, of Rockingham County, Virginia; 
Thomas, of Manheim, Lancaster County ; Francis Yarnall, of Read- 
ing, and Mary, his wife, as daughter of Mordecai Lincoln, deed.; 
Joseph Millard, Esq., of Union township, as husband of another 
daughter, Hannah, then deceased; also three children of this couple, 
named respectively Mordecai, Joseph, jr., and Barbara Millard; 
William Boone, of Exeter township, and Sarah, his wife, another 
daughter. This paper was quite lengthy and did not include son 
Mordecai nor daughter Ann Lincoln Tallman. 

I very much wish it were possible for you to find the old deed I 
have written about, and print it entire in your forthcoming work. 

Yours very truly, 

Mary Josephine Roe. 

notes of deed much abbreviated 

Date 1769. 

Quitclaim to posthumous son Abraham. 

John Lincoln, yeoman, of Augusta Co. in Va. 

Thomas Lincoln of Manheim in the county of Lancaster, Pa., 
yeoman. 

Francis Yarnall of Reading in Co. of Berks, yeoman, and Mary 
his wife, she being a daughter of Mordecai Lincoln, late of Exeter 
Township, yeoman, deceased. 



APPENDIX 195 

Joseph Millard, Esq., Union Township, Berks, husband of Han- 
nah, daughter of Mordecai Lincoln (she deceased). 

Wm. Boone, Exeter Township, yeoman, and Sarah his wife (I think 
in this case described as a daughter of Mordecai Lincoln as distinctly 
as sisters are). 

Mordecai Millard of Union Township, yeoman, a son of Joseph 
and Hannah Millard above named, and grandson of Mordecai Lin- 
coln; also out of same family Joseph, jr., James, and Barbara. 



FROM JAMES STEEN 

Eatontown, N. J., August 26, 1908. 

Mr. J. Henry Lea: 

Dear Sir, — As I wrote you briefly yesterday I have now to report: 
That by deed dated November 8, 1748, recorded May i, 1757, 
John Lincon, "weaver," of the Township of Carnarvin, County of 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, son and heir of Mordecai Lincon, deed, 
(no mention of his, M. L.'s, dwelling-place), sold to William Dye, 
yeoman, of Middlesex County, N. J., for two hundred pounds cur- 
rent money of New Jersey, at 8 shillings to the ounce, 300 acres on 
Cranbury brook in Middlesex County, N. J. 

This 300 acres would seem to have been part of 400 acres conveyed 
Mordecai Lincon by deed of Richard Salter, February a, 1720, but 
not recorded till October 9, 1753. The remaining 100 acres would 
appear to be that conveyed the two daughters Hannah and Mary. 
The deed to them, however, I do not find, and the reason would 
seem to be that the grantees relied upon their father's will; Hannah 
Lincon, having married one Joseph Millard of Amity, conveyed 
"her moiety" to William Talman (her brother-in-law) by deed of 
December 15, 1742. This deed I also fail to find of record. It is 
recited however in a deed from William Talman and Anne, his wife, 
and Francis Yarnall "Cordwainer" and Mary his wife, all of Amity, 
in the County of Philadelphia, dated May 10, 1743, but not re- 
corded till October 17, 1753. This then shows that Ann Lincon 
married William Talman, Mary Lincon married Francis Yarnell, 
Hannah Lincon married Joseph Millard, all of Amity. The grantee 
in the deed was Samuel Leonard. This also disposes of the 400 acres. 
But there was another 100 acres, also purchased by Mordecai of 



196 APPENDIX 

Richard Salter in the same locality, 26 May, 1726, i. e. at Mache- 
ponix in Middlesex County, N. J. This it was that he directed his 
executrix to sell. 

By a deed of January 17, 1742, not recorded until 1766, "Mary 
Rogers" gave power of attorney to William Talman, to sell the 
said 100 acres for her. This he did by deed dated May 10, 1743, 
recorded November 16, 1766, to one James Abrahams for forty 
pounds, and reciting therein the deed from the executrix to himself 
he calls her, " Mary, his widow and sole executrix, who now being 
the wife of Rodger Rodgers." 

It thereby sufficiently appears that prior to January 17, 1742, 
Mary, the widow of Mordecai Lincon, married Rodger Rodgers. 

It only remains to add that Macheponix, in Middlesex County, 
N. J., is near Cranbury and Hightstown, N. J. In fact a large exent 
of country is so designated in the earlier records, being practically 
all lands bordering on the Macheponix River or Creek, south of 
Perth Amboy. The name is an Indian word, said to mean "bad 
bread," meaning thereby a poor soil. 

Yours truly, 

James Steen. 

The first title to Mordecai Lincon is by the following conveyance, 
which was not recorded until long after its execution and then by a 
subsequent purchaser, to complete his record title. 

Richard Salter to Mordecai Lincon. 

Deed dated February 2, 1720. Recorded October 9, 1753. Con- 
sideration 152 pounds. Recorded in Book H2, page 150, East Jersey 
Deeds, in office of Secretary of State, Trenton, N. J. 

Conveys : — All those, &c. on Machaponix River and Gravill 
Brook in the County of Middlesex, the 

1st Tract, Bounded on said Matchaponix River on ye South, ye 
Pine Brook on ye East, by land now or late of William Estill on ye 
West, by land unsurveyed on ye North. 

Also: Bounded West by Gravill Brook, South by William Estill 
from ye mouth of Long Meadow run. East and North by land un- 
surveyed. 

Also all ye long meadow upon ye long meadow run, bounded 
West by ye last mentioned tract and all round ye other sides by 



APPENDIX 197 

upland unsurveyed, in all containing four hundred acres more or less 
allowance being made for highways and barrens. 

This property was afterwards devised by Mordecai Lincoln to his 
two daughters Hannah and Mary. 

Hannah married Joseph Millard, and they, by deed of December 
15, 1742, conveyed Hannah's moiety to her brother-in-law, William 
Talman, the husband of her sister Ann. This deed I have not found 
of record. The next conveyance is that of 

William Talman, yeoman, and Ann his wife, Francis Yar- 
NALL, cordwainer, and Mary, his wife, all of Amity in the County 
of Philadelphia, to Samuel Leonard. 

Dated May 10, 1743. Recorded October 17, 1753, in Book H2, 
page 155, Secretary of State's office. 

Conveys for consideration of Eighty pounds same premises, " all 
which said several tracts were taken up and surveyed by John Reid, 
Jr. and by him conveyed to his father John Reid, Esq., (August 4, 
171 5) Monmouth County Clerk's Office and by John Reid to Rich- 
ard Salter, November 27, 17 17, and by Richard Salter to Mordecai 
Lincon, 1 February, 1720, and by Mordecai Lincon to his daugh- 
ters, Hannah and Mary (now wives of Joseph Millard and Frances 
Yarnell) which is likewise fully expressed and given to the same by 
the said Mordecai Lincon by his Last Will and Testament, which 
is recorded in Philadelphia, and one moiety of which was sold by 
said Joseph Millard and Hannah, his wife, to William Talman by 
deed of December 15, Anno Domini, 1742. Reference to all the 
aforesaid deeds," &c. 

There was, however, another tract of land consisting of one hun- 
dred acres, and the same which Mordecai Lincon afterwards devised 
to his executrix. 

The first deed we cite is : — 

DUGALL MacCoLLUM tO RiCHARD SaLTER. 

Recorded in Book D3,page 125, Secretary of State's office. Dated 
July 15, 17 19. Recorded November 14, 1766. 

ConveySy for the consideration of fifty-four pounds, eighteen shil- 
lings, New York currency, one hundred acres. 

The same was thereafter conveyed by the following deed: — 

Richard Salter to Mordecai Lincon of the County of Chester, 
in the Province of Pennsylvania. 



198 APPENDIX 

Dated May 26, 1726. Recorded November 15, 1766, in Book 
D3, page 130, as above. Consideration not given. 

Conveys : — "all that tract, &c. in the County of Middlesex," &c. 

" Beginning at a Black Oak tree marked on four sides standing on 
the North side of a small slough or run, which is on the North side 
of a farm formerly William Estill's from thence running North 39 
degrees Westerly seventeen chains to Matchaponix River, thence 
down the same to the mouth of a brook which is one of Robert 
Barclay's corners and running from the first mentioned Black Oak 
tree att the Beginning, South 48 degrees Easterly forty chains more 
or less to the reere lines of said Estill's Farm. Thence along the 
same North and by East and half a point Easterly to his corner 
where a small run comes into the brook thence down the brook to 
the above named Barclay's corner on Matechponis River, which 
tract of land by estimation one hundred acres more or less ... as 
the same was made over to the said Richard Salter by deed of sale 
from Dugle Mackalom bearing date the fifteenth day of July, Anno 
Domini, 171 9, and not otherwise. 

Richard Saltar. 

Witnesses : 

George Morlatt, 
Richard Saltar, Jr. 
Ebenezer Saltar. 

Proved April 5, 1727, by Richard Saltar, Jr., before John Ander- 
son of the Governor's Council of New Jersey. 

This was the property which the executrix of Mordecai Lincon's 
Will was directed to sell, as would appear by the two deeds which 
follow : — 

Mary Rogers, of Eseter, in the County of Philadelphia, and 
Province of Pennsylvania, the whole and sole executrix of the Last 
Will of Mordecai Lincon, "my deceased husband," to William 
Talman of Amity in the County aforesaid, my son-in-law. 

Dated January 17, 1742. Recorded November 28, 1766. Book 
D3, page 136, East Jersey Deeds, office of Secretary of State, Tren- 
ton, N. J. Power of Attorney. 

Recites husband's Will and the authority to sell, and empowers 
William Talman to sell, lease and otherwise manage or dispose of 
certain one hundred acres, on Matchiponix. IVitnesses: — George 
Boone and Roger Rogers. 



APPENDIX 



99 



Roger Rogers was probably the husband of the grantor and his 
witnessing would seem to be in the nature of a consent, George 
Boone was a Justice of Peace and the grantor acknowledged the deed 
before him as such Justice. 

In virtue of the power given him by the foregoing William Tal- 
man conveyed the premises by the following deed: — 

William Tallman to James Abrahams. 

Deed dated May lo, 1743. Recorded November 16, 1766. Book 
D3, page 146. Consideration forty pounds. 

Conveys: — "Tenement and tract of land," one hundred acres at 
Macheponix, and recites as follows " which said tract of land the said 
Mordecai Lincon, by his last will and testament dated ye lid of 
February, A. Dom. 1735, which is recorded in Philladelphia, did order 
to be sold by Mary, his widow and sole executrix, who now being the 
wife of Rodger Rodgers gave full power to the sd. William Talman to 
sell and convey ye same in manner and form as aforesd. as by a cer- 
tain Power of Attorney from said Executrix to ye said William Tal- 
man Dated ye 17th day of January A. Dom. 1742, reference there- 
unto May fully be had and at large appear." 

The land which John Lincon as son and heir-at-law received from 
his father is described in the following deed: — 

John Lincon, " Weaver " of the Township of Carnarvin, County 
of Lancaster, Pa., son and heir of Mordecai Lincon, deceased, to 
William Dye. 

Dated November 8, 1748. Recorded May i, 1757, in Book H2, 
page 437. Consideration 200 pound current money of N. J. 8 shil- 
lings to the ounce. 

Conveys land in the County of Middlesex. — 

Beginning where the land formerly Walter Benthal's crosses Cram- 
berry Brook, from thence along said Benthal's line towards the post 
road to the land formerly Robert Burnets, and from thence along said 
Burnets line in breadth so far that a parallel line to the foresaid line 
of Benthals from the said Burnets line to said Cramberry brook do 
contain 300 acres, thence along the course of said Benthal's line to 
Cramberry Brook and from thence down the brook to where it began. 
Bounded West by land formerly Benthals, North by land formerly 
Robert Burnets, East by land formerly belonging to Herricon and 
South by Cramberry Brook. 



XII 
SURVEY BILLS 

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 
Madison, August 2, 1908. 

J. Henry Lea, Esq.: 

Dear Sir, — Yours of the 19th inst. reaches this office during the 
absence of Doctor Thwaites from the city. I have, however, had a 
somewhat hasty search made through the Draper Manuscripts and 
find the following references to the Lincoln entries: — 

25C36 (Boone's Survey Book), undated, but context shows it to 
be July, 1776: "Lincoln 1000 akers." 

25C37: "Taken to Richmond . . . Lincoln for warrant of 1000 
akers i6ooe." 

25C38 : "Abraham Lincoln enters 500 acres of Land on a treasury 
warrant No. 5994 beginning opposite Charles Yanceys uper Line on 
the South side of the River Runing South 200 poles then up the 
River for Quntety nth Desember 1782." 

25C58, p. 32 : "Ab"" Linkhorn enters 500 a'" of Land on a T. W. 
N° 5994 Beg^ opposite Yancey upper line on the South side of the 
River Run^ South 200 poles thence up the River for Qt'' a copy T. 
Marshall S." 

25C84, p. 50: "Jainry the 17"" 1783 Hannaniah Lincoln Enters 
8972^ acres of Land on two tresury Warrants N° 8323 and 12409 
Beginning on Kantuckey River at the Lower Ende of a Large Botom 
Where Col° Donelson Stopt his Line at a Large Camp and trees 
Nocked on the River bank Runing north two Miles then Este So 
far that Right angles to the river and Down the same will include 
the Quntity." 

26C45 : " Survayd for Hannanighah Lincoln 1000 acres Begin at 
2 Shuger tress W 400 p to 2 Shuger trees N 400 p to 2 Shuger trees 
400 p to a White Oke and Hickury & 400 p to the beginning." 
This is apparently under date of April 22, 1785. 

26C98 : " Begining at Hananighah Lincolns S E Corner at 2 Wal- 



APPENDIX 20I 

nuts Este 400 pos. to a Linn and hickery N 400 pos to 2 White 
okes W 400 pos to a White oke & to the begining." 

All these references are taken from the series in the Draper Manu- 
scripts known as Boone Papers. 

If we can be of further service to you pray call upon us. 
Yours very truly, 

Annie A. Nunns» 
Private secy, to R. G. Tbwaites. 

SURVEYOR'S CERTIFICATE FOR 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

[Recorded in Kentucky Survey Book 4, page 350.] 

Surveyed for Abraham Linkhorn 400 acres of Land in Jefferson 
County by virtue of a Treasury Warrant N° 3334 on the Fork of 
Floyds Fork now called the Long Run beginning about two Miles 
up the said Fork from the Mouth of a Fork of the same formerly 
called Fells Fork at a Sugar Tree standing on the side of the same 
marked s'b and extending thence East 300 poles to a Poplar and 
Sugar Tree North 213^ poles to a Beech and Dogwood West 300 
poles to a White Oak and Hickory South 213 J^ poles to the 
Beginning — May 7th. 1785 

William Shannon D S J C 

Exd.' William May S J C 
Anania Lincoln and 
Abraham Lincoln CC 
Josiah Lincoln M.' 

Mem. — This Survey was also recorded in Jefferson County Records, Book B, p. 60 
(see facsimile in Cent. Mag., November, 1886, and Nicolay and Hay); but there the 
Chainmen are given as Hanananiah Lincoln and Josiah Lincoln, and the Marker as Abra- 
ham Linkhorn. As the above document is the original entry, it is most probably the 
correct one. 

» Exd. = Examined, usually precedes the name of the County Surveyor. 
* C C = Chainmen. 
3 M. = Marker. 



XIII 
THE HERRING FAMILY 

Harrisonburg, Va., 9-15, 1908. 
J. Henry Lea, Esq.: 

Dear Sir, — I regret to say that all our family records and docu- 
ments, as well as the county registers and records, were burned by 
Gen. Sheridan's troops in June, '62.' As all the older members of my 
family are dead, I will have to give you such information as I can re- 
member from statements made by my grandfather, great-uncle, and 
great-aunt, who, in their old age, frequently discussed the family 
history and genealogy in my presence. 

It seems that the first immigrant was John Herring, who ran away 
to sea at the early age of nine, and came to Virginia. He developed 
into a man of considerable energy and ability, and by his influence 
secured a grant from George II to a large tract of land in the then 
Indian infested and practically unexplored region, since famous as the 
Shenandoah Valley. With his family and a few fearless followers, he 
took possession of his grant and reared a fort at Heronford, where 
Thomas Herring now lives. He succeeded in defending himself 
against the Indians in many bloody fights, and reared a large family. 
Four of his sons served in the Revolutionary War under Light 
Horse Harry Lee. After that war was ended. Light Horse Harry 
frequently visited and hunted with them many weeks at a time. 

Bathsheba Herring, as I recall it, was a daughter of Leonard 
Herring, and was born on the old plantation near Bridgewater in 
Rockingham County, Virginia. She got her name and her Scotch 
blood from her mother, who was a Scotch Presbyterian. The name 
of her mother's family has been forgotten. 

' On the march [Harrisonburg to Port Republic, 4 Jung, 1864] we overtook and burned a 
train of wagons which, loaded with material of war, had been driven from Harrisonburg as 
we approached that place. Very curiously, the authorities there had thought it best to re- 
move the records and public papers from the various county offices and had them loaded upon 
these wagons. Of course they were destroyed in the general burning. — Hist. 34th Mass. 
Regiment, by Gen. William S. Lincoln, p. 298. 



APPENDIX 203 

Under the circumstances of the times, no effort was made for many- 
years to communicate with the family in England. About twenty-five 
years ago. Dr. Burk Christman, through some friend who knew the 
English cousins, made investigations, which satisfied him that the 
first John Herring was of the noble English family of that name, 
one of whom has been Archbishop of Canterbury. Doctor Christman 
secured a coat of arms belonging to the English branch. I must 
confess, I regarded the matter as too much obscured by the lapse of 
time to deserve of great credit. 

Abraham Lincoln, who married Bathsheba Herring, was a poor 
and rather plain man. Her aristocratic father looked with scorn on 
the alliance, and gave his daughter the choice of giving up her lover 
or being disinherited. The high-spirited young woman did not hesitate. 
She married the man she loved and went with him to the savage wilds 
of Kentucky in 1782. Her husband was afterwards killed by an 
Indian, but one of her sons, a lad of twelve years, killed the Indian 
and avenged his father's death. Bathsheba Herring was a woman of 
fine intelligence and strong character. She was greatly loved and re- 
spected by all who knew her. 

I regret that I am unable to give more extended and accurate in- 
formation. 

Very truly yours, 

Charles Griffin Herring. 



XIV 

EPITAPHS IN LINVILL CREEK 
CEMETERY, VIRGINIA' 

To the Memory of Jacob Lincoln s" who was born on the i8th 
day of November 1751 and departed this Hfe on the 20th day of 
February 1822 Aged 71 years 9 months and 2 days. 

Abraham Lincoln Born March 15, 1799. Died June 18. 1851 
Aged 52 years 2 months and 29 days. 

Sacred to John Lincoln who departed this life on the 13th day of 
July 1 81 8 Aged 35 years and 5 months and 4 days. 

' By the courtesy of Professor Marion D. Learned of University of Pennsylvania. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Names of the direct ascendants of President Lincoln are set in small capitals. Names 
having no genealogical connection with the Lincoln family are set in italic. In respect to 
collaterals, the list of names does not, except in some few exceptional cases, go beyond the 
first generation after severance from the direct line. In the *♦ Cognate Families " only the 
direct ascendants are included. 



Alberye, Margaret, married, first, Robert 
Lincoln ii, 28; second, Roger Wright, 
29, 30. 

Berry, Mrs. Lucy Shipley, wife of Richard, 
85; adopts Nancy Hanks, 106, 122, 
125. See also Shipley, Lucy. 

Berry, Richard, guardian of Nancy Hanks, 
85, 106, 122, 125. 

Bird, Anne. See Small, Mrs. Anne. 

Bird, Edward, 20. 

Bird, Henry, 20. 

Bird, John, guardian of Anne and Eliza- 
beth Lincoln, 15, 20, 22. 

Boone, Anne, married Abraham Lincoln 
III, 75, 105. 

Boone, Daniel, 79, 98, loi, 103, 104. 

Boone, Dinah, married Benjamin Tallman, 
73 and note 4, 105. 

Boone, George, trustee under will of Mor- 
DECAi II, 71, 99. 

Boone, James, 75. 

Boone, Mrs. Mary Foulke, wife of James, 

75- 
Boone, Mrs. Sarah Lincoln, wife of William, 

74- 
Boone, William, 74 and note I, 100, 105. 
Boone family, 98-105; points of contact 

with Lincoln family, 105. 
BowNE, Mrs. Ann, wife of William, 94. 
BowNE, John i, father of Sarah Bowne 

Salter, 92, 94; other issue of, 94-96; 

139- 
Bowne, John 11, son of John i, 91, 94, 95, 

»39- 



BowNE, Mrs. Lydia Holmes, wife of 
John i, 92; ancestry of, 96, 97; 139. 

Bowne, Obadiah, 139. 

BowNE, Sarah, married Richard Salter i, 
92. 

Bowne, William, father of John i, 93, 94; 
other issue of, 94. 

Bowne family, 93-96. 

Brumfield, Mrs. Nancy Lincoln, wife of 
William, 79 note 2, 85. 

Brumfield, William, 85. 

Buffalo, Kentucky, birthplace of the Presi- 
dent, 86. 

Bush, Sarah. See Lincoln, Mrs. Sarah Bush 
Johnston. 

Carbrooke, England, 39 seqq. 

Chancery Proceedings, records of, furnish key 

to ancestry of Samuel Lincoln, i 3 seqq. 
Clare, Maud, Countess of, 39. 
Clare, Roger, Earl of, '^g. 
Codesmore, Manor of (Rutlandshire), 10. 
Cole, Elizabeth, granddaughter of Mor- 

DECAi Lincoln i, 65. 
CowPER (Cooper), Joan, married Robert 

Lincoln i, 31 and note 2. 
Crume (Krume), Mrs. Mary Lincoln, wife 

of Ralphi 85. 
Crume, Ralph, 85. 

Dunham, Margery, third wife of Richard 
Lincoln i, 17; death of, 17, 20. 

Friend, Dennis, 108 and note i, 129 and 
note 2. 



208 



INDEX 



Gannett, Mrs. Mary, second wife of Mor- 

DECAi Lincoln i, 65. 
Grigsby, Aaron, 86. 
Grigsby, Mrs. Nancy (or Sarah) Lincoln, 

sister of the President, death of, 86, 1 26. 
Gunthorpe, Mrs. Elizabeth. See Lincoln, 

Elizabeth 11. 
Gunthorpe, William, 27. 
Gurney,Mrs. Anne. See Lincoln, Anne i. 
Gurney, Robert, 27. 

Hanke family, possible descent of Joseph 

Hanks from, 115 seqq. 
Hanks, Dennis. See Friend, Dennis. 
Hanks, Elizabeth. See Sparrow, Elizabeth 

Hanks. 
Hanks, John, son of Joseph 11, 131, 132, 

133- 

Hanks, Joseph i, father of Nancy Hanks 
Lincoln, 85, 108; doubts as to descent 
of, 112 seqq. ; other issue of, 1 20—1 22. 

Hanks, Joseph 11, son of Joseph i, 121, 125. 

Hanks, Nancy, married Thomas Lincoln 
IV, 85. And see Lincoln, Mrs. Nancy 
Hanks. 

Hanks, Mrs. Nancy Shipley, wife of 
Joseph i, 85, 108, 1 19. 

Hanks family, 1 12-122; characteristics of, 
138. 

Herring, Bathsheba, second wife of Abra- 
ham Lincoln iv, 79 and note 3. And 
see Lincoln, Mrs. Bathsheba Herring. 

Herring, John, father of Leonard Her- 
ring, 109. 

Herring, Leonard, father of Mrs. Bath- 
sheba Herring Lincoln, 79, no. 

Herring, Mrs. Leonard, no. 

Herring family, 108, 112; characteristics 
of, 138. 

Hingham (^England), 3 seqq. ; semi-depopu- 
lated by exodus to New England, 8, 9 ; 
parish register of, defective, 11, 12, 28, 
29. 

Hingham {England) Manor Rolls, 25 and 
note. 

Hingham {Mass.), 64; Lincolns settled in, 
135 seqq. 



Holbrook, Mary, married Jacob Lincoln i, 

66. 
Holmes, Mrs. Catherine, wife of Oba- 

DiAH, 94, 96. 
Holmes, John, 139. 
Holmes, Jonathan, 139. 
Holmes, Lydia, married John Bowne, 92. 
Holmes, Obadiah i, father of Lydia 

Holmes Bowne, 94, 96; other issue of, 

97; 139- 
Holmes, Obadiah 11, 139. 
Holmes family, 96-97. 

Johnston, Charles, 129. 

Johnston, Daniel, 85, 129. 

Johnston, John D., son of second wife of 

Thomas Lincoln iv, 132. 
Johnston, Mrs. Sarah Bush. See Lincoln, 

Mrs. Sarah Bush Johnston. 
Jones, Abraham, father of Sarah Jones 

Lincoln, 65, 89; other issue of, 90. 
Jones, Mrs. Ann, first wife of Thomas, 88, 

89. 
Jones, Mrs. Ann Lincoln, wife of William, 

74- 
Jones, Mrs. Elizabeth, second wife of 

Thomas, 89. 
Jones, Robert, brother of Thomas, 87, 88. 
Jones, Sarah, married Mordecai Lincoln i, 

65. 
Jones, Mrs. Sarah Whitman, wife of 

Abraham, 65, 89, 90. 
Jones, Thomas, father of Abraham, 87, 88, 

89. 
Jones family, 87-90. 

Kett, Mrs. Alice, wife of Robert, 56. 

Kett, John, 42, 43, 45, 46, 59. 

Kett, Mrs. Mary Remching, wife of John, 

43. 44- 
Kett, Robert, 47, 50, 51 seqq.; execution 

of, 58. 
Kett, Thomas, 46, 47. 
Kett, William, 51 seqq.; execution of, 58. 
Ketts of Wymondham, origin of, 45. And 

see Norfolk Furies, The. 
Kimberley, Earl of, zi^ note. 



INDEX 



209 



Laud, Archbishop, 6-8. 

Lawes, Francis, Samuel Lincoln appren- 
ticed to, 4, 63 and note 2. 

Lincoln, Abraham i, son of Mordecai i, 
65, 66, 67, 68. 

Lincoln, Abraham 11, son of Abraham i, 
67; issue of, 67. 

Lincoln, Abraham in, posthumous son of 
Mordecai ii, 71, 75; issue of, 75; 76, 

io5» 137- 
Lincoln, Abraham iv, son of John hi, and 

grandfather of the President, 77, 78 and 

note 3, 80 seqq.; murder of, 8z, 83 and 

note ; 84, 85, 132 note. 
Lincoln, Abraham v. President of the U. S., 

II note 3, 78 note 2, 86, 1 26, i 27, i 30, 

132. J33- 
Lincoln, Adam de, progenitor of Essex and 

Norfolk (?) Lincolns, 10. 
Lincoln, Agnes, daughter of Robert ii, 29. 
Lincoln, Anne i, daughter of Richard i, 

by his fourth wife, 15 seqq., 18, 20, 

22, 23, 25 ; marries Robert Gurney, 

27. 
Lincoln, Anne, daughter of Mordecai ii, 

71 ; marries William Tallman, 73 ; issue 

of, 73- 
Lincoln, Mrs. Anne, wife of Abraham 11, 

67. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Anne Boone, wife of Abra- 
ham III, 75. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Anne Rambo, wife of Jacob 11, 
68. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Anne (Small), fourth wife of 
Richard I, 17, 18 ; controversy of, with 
Edward Lincoln, i 8 seqq. ; authors' esti- 
mate of her character and conduct, 1 8- 
19 ; 23, 24, 26 ; death of, 27. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Bathsheba Herring, wife 
of Abraham iv, and grandmother of the 
President, 79, 80 and note 2, 83, 85, 
109 ; ancestry of, 1 08-1 12 ; 1 87-1 91, 
202, 203. 

Lincoln, Daniel, brother of Samuel the emi- 
grant, 5, 27, 64, 135. 

Lincoln, Deborah, daughter of Mordecai ii, 
72. 



Lincoln, Edward, son of Richard i by his 
first wife, and father of Samuel the emi- 
grant, II, 12; litigation of, with half- 
sisters, 14 seqq. ; disinherited by his 
father, 19 ; 20, 22, 23, 25, 26 ; death 
of, 27; 38, 39, 40, 44. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Edward, mother of Sam- 
uel, 6 ; uncertainty concerning identity 
of, II. 

Lincoln, Elizabeth i, daughter of Robert i, 
and wife of Hugh Baldwin, 3 1 . 

Lincoln, Elizabeth 11, daughter of Richard i, 
by his fourth wife, 15 seqq.; 17, 18, 
20, 22, 23, 25; marries William Gun- 
thorpe, 27. 

Lincoln, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas 11, 75. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Elizabeth Remching, first 
wife of Richard i, and grandmother of 
Samuel, 39, 40, 41, 44, 59. 

Lincoln, Hannah, daughter of Mordecai ii, 
marries Joseph Millard, 72 ; issue of, 72. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Hannah Salter, first wife 
of Mordecai ii, and great-great-grand- 
mother of the President, 70, 72, 76 ; 
ancestry of, 90-97. 

Lincoln, Hannaniah, 74 note 4, 75 note i, 
82 and note 2. 

Lincoln, Henry, son of Richard i by his 
fourth wife, and half-brother of Edward, 
16 note 2, 18, 19, 20, 26, 27 ; death 
of, 28 ; 38. 

Lincoln, Isaac i, son of Mordecai i, 65, 66. 

Lincoln, Isaac 11, son of Abraham i, 67. 

Lincoln, Isaac in, son of John hi, and 
grand-uncle of the President, 77, 124. 

Lincoln, Jacob i, son of Mordecai i, 65, 66; 
issue of, 66. 

Lincoln, Jacob 11, son of Abraham i, 67 ; 
issue of, 68. 

Lincoln, Jacob ni, son of John ni, and 
grand-uncle of the President, 77 ; chil- 
dren of, 77, 78 and note 3 ; 137. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Joan, widow of Robert i, 

31- 
Lincoln, Johan de, wife of Adam, 10. 

Lincoln, '*Sir" John, rector of Weeting 

(1387), 10. 



2IO 



INDEX 



Lincoln, John i, 29. 

Lincoln, John 11, son of Abraham i, 68. 

Lincoln, John hi, called " Virginia John," 
son of MoRDECAi II, and great-grand- 
father of the President, 76, -j-jy 78, 132 
note, 137. 

Lincoln, John iv, son of John hi and grand- 
uncle of the President, 77. 

Lincoln, Josiah, son of Abraham iv and 
uncle of the President, 82, 83 ; issue of, 
84 and note 6. 

Lincoln, Katherine, daughter of Robert ii, 
29. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Margaret Alberye, wife 
of Robert ii, 28 j marries Roger 
Wright, 29, 30. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Margery Dunham, third wife 
of Richard i, 17. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Martha, wife of Samuel, 
64, 87. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Mary, second wife of Mor- 
DECAi II, 70 ; marries Roger Rogers, 70. 
See also Rogers, Mrs. Mary. 

Lincoln, Mary, daughter of Mordecai ii, 
marries Francis Yarnall, 72. 

Lincoln, Mary, daughter of Abraham iv, 
and aunt of the President, marries Ralph 
Crume, 85. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Mary Gannett, second wife 
of Mordecai i, 65. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Mary Holbrook, first wife of 
Jacob I, 66. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Mary Shipley, first wife of 
Abraham iv, 79, 80 and note 4, 84 ; 
ancestry of, 10 5- 1 08. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Mary Shutc, wife of Isaac 11, 
67. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Mary Webb, wife of Mor- 
decai III, 74. 

Lincoln, Mordecai i, son of Samuel, and 
great-great-great-grandfather of the Presi- 
dent, 64, 87, 90, 132 note. 

Lincoln, Mordecai ii, son of Mordecai i, 
and great-great-grandfather of the Presi- 
dent, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 72, 76, 93, 
132 note. 
Lincoln, Mordecai iii, son of Abraham i, 68. 



Lincoln, Mordecai iv, son of Mordecai ii, 
74; issue of, 74 ; 137. 

Lincoln, Mordecai v, son of Abraham iv, 
and uncle of the President, 82, 83, 84; 
issue of, 84 ; 123, 137. 

Lincoln, Nancy, daughter of Abraham iv, 
and great-aunt of the President, marries 
William Brumfield, 85. 

Lincoln, Nancy, daughter of Thomas iv, 
and sister of the President, marries Aaron 
Grigsby, 86, 126. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Nancy Hanks, first wife of 
Thomas iv, and mother of the President, 
85 and note 2 ; ancestry of, 105-108 
(Shipley), 11 2-1 22 (Hanks); adopted 
by Mrs. Lucy Berry, 122, 125 ; death 
of, 129. 

Lincoln, Nicholas, rector of Caistor-next- 
the-Sea, 9. 

Lincoln, Nicholas, of Rollesby, poacher, 9, 
10. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Rebecca, wife of Abraham i, 
67. 

Lincoln, Rebecca, daughter of Abraham i, 
marries Joseph Rush, 67. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Rebecca, wife of John hi, 77 
and note 2, 78. 

Lincoln, Richard i, grandfather of Sam- 
uel the emigrant, 11, 14; proceedings 
in Chancery concerning estate of, 15; 
his inheritance, 15, 16; his four mar- 
riages, 16, 17; influence of his fourth 
wife on, and his will, 18-20 ; disinherits 
eldest son Edward, 19 ; death of, at 
Swanton Morley, 22 ; 23, 24, 26,28, 

30. 35. 40- 
Lincoln, Richard ii, son of Richard i by 

second wife, 17, 23, 25, 28. 

Lincoln, Robert i, grandfather of Rich- 
ard i, 30, 31, 34, 35. 

Lincoln, Robert ii, father of Richard i, 
II, 14, 16, 28, 29, 35. 

Lincoln, Robert, of Hellington, 34. 

Lincoln, Rose, the elder, daughter of Rob- 
ert I, 3 I . 

Lincoln, Rose, the younger, daughter of 
Robert i, 31. 



INDEX 



211 



Lincoln, Samuel, THE emigrant, son of Ed- 
ward, and great-great-great-great-grand- 
father of the President, born in Hingham, 
Eng., 4; apprenticed in Norwich, 4; 
goes to America, 4 ; exact age of, uncer- 
tain, 4, 5 ; baptism of, 4, 6 ; date of 
death of, 5; Rev. R. Peck's influence 
on, 9 ; parentage of, 11 ; 27, 38, 59, 
63, 64, 87, 132 note; prominent men 
descended from, 136-138. 

Lincoln, Sarah, daughter of Abraham i, 68. 

Lincoln, Sarah, daughter of Mordecai ii, 
marries William Boone, 74, 105. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Sarah Bush Johnston, second 
wife of Thomas iv, and stepmother of 
the President, 85, 129. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Sarah Jones, first wife of 
Mordecai i, 65, 66; ancestry of, 87-90. 

Lincoln, Mrs. Susanna, second wife of Ja- 
cob I, 66. 

Lincoln, Thomas i, brother of Samuel, 5, 
6, 27, 38, 64, 134. 

Lincoln, Thomas n, son of Mordecai ii, 
75 ; issue of, 75 ; 137. 

Lincoln, Thomas iii, son of John ui, and 
great-uncle of the President, 77. 

Lincoln, Thomas iv, son of Abraham iv, 
and father of the President, 80 ; who was 
his mother? 80, 1 87-191 ; 82, 85 ; 
death of, 86 and note 2 ; life and char- 
acter of, 123 seqq. ; born in Virginia, 
123 ; in Kentucky, 123 ; witnesses his 
father's murder, 123 ; poverty of, 124 ; 
learns carpenter's trade, 124, 125 ; edu- 
cation of, 125 ; marriage of, 125 ; moves 
to Indiana, 128 ; death of wife Nancy, 
129; marries Mrs. Sarah Bush John- 
ston, 129; religious belief of, 130; 
moves to Illinois, 131; his frequent mi- 
grations, 131, 132; death of, 133. 

Lincoln, Thomas v, infant brother of the 
President, 86. 

Lincoln, William de, 10. 

Lingcole (Lincoln), Thomas de, 10. 

Millard, Mrs. Hannah Lincoln, wife of 
Joseph, 72. 



Moody, Sir Henry, 93 note 3. 

Moody, Lady, wife of Sir Henry, 93 and 

note 3. 
Mott, Gershom, 95, 139. 

"Norfolk County (England), defective regis- 
ters of, 1 1 and note. 
Norfolk Furies, The, 54. 
Northampton, Marquis of, ^i, 54. 
Norwich, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10. 

Parish Registers, first ordered to be kept, 
in England, 1 1 note ; lack of care in pre- 
servation of, 12. 

Peck, Rev. Robert, baptises Samuel Lin- 
coln, 6 ; and Archbishop Laud's edict 
of 1634, 6-8 ; excommunicated, leads 
exodus to New England, 8 ; 11, 15. 

Rambo, Anne, married Jacob Lincoln 11, 
68. 

Remching, Anne, 39. 

Remching, Edward, 40, 41, 42. 

Remching, Elizabeth, wife of Richard, 
41, 42 ; her will, 43, 44. 

Remching, Elizabeth, first wife of Rich- 
ard Lincoln i, 16 and note i. 

Remching, Mary, wife of John Kett, and 
sister of Elizabeth Remching Lincoln, 
46, 59. 

Remching, Richard i, 16 and note i, 39, 

41. 59- 
Remching, Richard 11, 42. 

Remchings, origin of, 39 seqq. 

Robeson, Jonathan, trustee under will of 

Mordecai Lincoln ii, 71 and note 1. 
Rogers, Mrs. Mary, widow of Mordecai 

Lincoln ii, and wife of Roger Rogers, 

70, 71, 72, 74. 
Rogers, Roger, 70 and note 4. 

5"/. Mary Coslany, Norwich, tablet in, 10. 

Salter, Hannah, married Mordecai Lin- 
coln II, 70. 

Salter, Richard i, father of Hannah Salter 
Lincoln, 68, 69, 70, 90-92 ; other 
issue of, 92, 93, 138. 



2 12 



INDEX 



Salter, Richard ii, 139. 

Salter, Mrs. Sarah Bowne, wife of Rich- 
ard I, 70, 92, 95. 

Salter family, 90-93. 

Sheffield, Lord, 54. 

Shipley, Lucy, sister of Mary Shipley Lin- 
coln and Nancy Shipley Hanks, adopts 
Nancy Hanks, 106, 122. 

Shipley, Mary, married Abraham Lincoln 
IV, 79. 

Shipley, Robert, father of Mary Shipley 
Lincoln, and of Nancy Shipley Hanks, 
105, 106 ; other issue of, 106-108 ; 
119. 

Shipley, Mrs. Sarah, wife of Robert, 79, 
106. 

Shipley family, 105-108. 

Shute, Mary, married Isaac Lincoln 11, 67. 

Small, Mrs. Anne, fourth wife of Richard 
Lincoln i, 17. And see Lincoln, Mrs. 
Anne. 

Small, Richard, son of Mrs. Anne Small, 20. 

Sparrow, Mrs. Elizabeth Hanks, wife of 
Thomas, and sister of Nancy Hanks 
Lincoln, 128, 129. 

Sparrow, Thomas, 129. 

Sunny South, The, 78 note 3, 83 note 4, 
84 note I. 

Swanton Morley, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28. 



Tallman, Mrs. Anne Lincoln, wife of Wil- 
liam, 73. 

Tallman, Benjamin, son of William, 73, 
105. 

Tallman, Mrs. Dinah Boone, wife of Ben- 
jamin, 73. 

Tallman, William, 70, 72, 73 and note 2, 

74- 
Tower, Mrs. Sarah Lincoln, daughter of 
Mordecai Lincoln i, 65, 66. 

" Virginia John." See Lincoln, John hi. 

Warwick, Earl of, 55, 56, 57. 

Webb, Mary, married Mordecai Lincoln rii, 

74- 
Whitman, John, father of Sarah Whitman 

Jones, 89 and note 3. 
Whitman, Mrs. Ruth, wife of John, 

89. 
Whitman, Sarah, married Abraham Jones, 

89. 
Wren, Mattherv, Bishop of Norwich, 8. 
Wright, Mrs. Margaret Alberye. See Al- 

berye, Margaret, and Lincoln, Mrs. 

Margaret Alberye. 
Wyndsor, Walter de, 10. 

Yarnall, Francis, 72 and note 4. 



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